JOSH Niland has built his culinary reputation around using the whole fish. He minimises waste to maximise profits, expand pallets and minimise the footprint on our oceans with reduced catches that only utilise “the good bits”.
Fish bone pliers are a tool that are always on hand at the Fish Butchery. I have visited the store in Waterloo and noticed how much of a staple they were for the team. Removing the bones by pinching them with tweezer like pliers to pull them out.
You know what they say about the meat closest to the bone. Most fish have their pin bones cut out when being processed. Cutting out the bones takes two seconds and removes a portion of quality flesh as a result. Wasting quality yield that overtime adds up. In this day and age, spending a few extra minutes to pin bone the fish, gives it the respect it deserves. When bones are cut from a fillet it also leaves an awkward split down the middle of the fillet that makes it more challenging to cook and presents poorly.
Knowing the location of the pin bones or rib cage changes with species. You might find youtube tutorials or simply run your finger along until you come across a raised spike. Snapper have a single row that run down the lateral line of the flank. When cut away it runs as deep as a third of the length of the entire fillet which makes portioning an issue. Flathead have 2 sets of pin bones, and when they get cut out a large portion of flesh is wasted.
Many estuary fish are smaller than blue water species. The fillets are often very delicate like a whiting. Minimising cuts saves waste but also keeps the fillet intact making it less fragile for flipping on a hot plate. The Mr Niland Fish Bone Pliers have a tight enough seal to grab the smaller bones of these species whilst being strong enough to hold onto the larger pelagics.
The Mr Niland Fish Bone Pliers are a much more user friendly tool than pliers. The spring loaded handles are responsive and the handles allow for a solid grip. They also come apart easily to clean. I think that every fisho should have a set of these in their knife roll ready to maximise the yield of their take. They retail for $74.
More info at www.mrniland.com
