The fish feels firm. Too firm. Oh s**t. The innards are still in the fish! I know I should have requested it. But usually the fish monger would ask me if I wanted to, and all I needed to do was to nod my head and say "Yes, please". This time the lady didn't ask (I should have noticed it was the lady, not the guy), and I passively, stupidly, assumed it's done. Next time I have to be more 'market savvy'. But this time. Sigh, what must be done must be done. Right, get on with the job.
Firstly, a slit to cut open the fish. Next - can I just scrape those reddish, lumpy, squashy things off with my knife? Oh no, this sinewy thing is too tough. I have to use my hands. And it just keeps slipping off my hand. And... erm, are those the gills? Let me see... No, I don't recall seeing gills in cooked fish, so out with those too. Eeeks! There, done. Easier with the hands really. Oh why, oh why is the mouth open now?? Those membranous stuff under the lower lip (do you call them lips?), do I remove them too? Oh heck, why not? Now, to wash off those dark reddish left overs... What a bloody business. Literally. Maybe not as bloody as childbirth, but I didn't see much blood then anyway, or at least I had chosen not to. Terrible, terrible beginning to the day! Thank goodness the scales have been removed. Or maybe there wasn't any scale in the first place? I wouldn't have known. Now, all that is left is how to cook this mackerel. (In the end, I baked it with butter, lemon, salt, pepper and paprika - basically whatever I have at my hands that appear to go well with fish.)
So, next time, be more mean, more demanding, and really assertive, please.
3 comments:
Ooohh.. fish innards.. gross.. but congratulations on ur first attempt.. hehe..
:P
ewwww...
how come the fishmonger so lazy one, thot it usu goes w/o saying tt the innards hv to b removed? after all that, ur appetite for the fish still there? heeeeeee
rb: erm, not my first attempt ok. think maybe my third in my self-cooking life so far, not sure. but as one gets older, seems like one gets more affected by the gory stuff...
xy: hmm, not sure why they dun just remove it by default. maybe they are indeed a little lazy. but i remember i encountered similar things in sg too. usually, very usually, they would offer to remove it for u, instead of keeping silent abt it!
yeah, of course appetite still there! of course must eat that fish! and it's really nice - not becoz i cook well, but becoz it's very fresh and so didn't require much skill to make it delicious.
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