Whiting are an excellent eating fish that can be caught by even the greenest of anglers. And what is best, they are even easier to fillet.

The pin bones on a whiting are so small and soft that they aren’t worth bothering with removing. Some do take the time by using tweezers but most seasoned fish eaters don’t even notice their presence.

The whiting were supplied by Bay and Ocean Seafoods of 1214 Lytton Rd, Hemmant.

1. Ready to begin: several whole whiting, a filleting knife, and a fish scaler.

2. Scale the whiting thoroughly using the fish scaler and glove.

3. Hold the knife edge perpendicular to the whiting’s spine or angled at 45º towards the head. Make an incision downwards behind the pectoral fin, through to the spine.

4. Rotate the knife’s blade so that the blade is parallel to the whiting’s spine and its leading edge (the sharp bit) is facing the tail. With the knife flat against the whiting’s backbone, push the knife point all the way through and out the other side and cut the end of the fillet away from the fish’s backbone and tail.

5. Push the knife along the backbone for the full length of the fillet.

6. Complete the cut to remove the fillet from one side of the fish.

7. Turn the fillet over and repeat the process. Cut behind the pectoral fin on this side, through to the spine.

8. As on the previous side, cut the fillet completely away from the fish’s backbone and tail.

9. With the fillet removed, start the knife edge just under the rib bones in order to shave the ribs off the fillet.

10. Turn the fillet around and work under the rib cage from the other end.

11. Continue to push (shave) the knife across under the rib cage.

12. The rib cage removed from the fillet in one piece.

13. The finished fillets ready for the cook.