Best Way to Clean Dolphin (Mahi Mahi)

When it comes to filleting fish, most of us, including myself, were taught to skin the animal to maximize the meat and discard the undesirable parts. But when it came time to skin a dolphin, we would always cut the perimeter of the fish’s skin, find a couple buddies to hold the head, and yank as hard as we could on the super-slippery skin to tear it off of the flesh.

“In doing this, we covered the table, meat and everyone with tiny dolphin scales. If you weren’t careful, you could even take out the guy next to you when the skin tore free. Pulling the skin always left that fibrous red layer on our fillet. I did this for years!”

Then at home, I would spend more time cutting off the fiber part that was still on the fillet. Finally, I asked myself, why am I doing this? I’ve never peeled a dolphin since.

Now, like the rest of the fish we catch, I skin them one section at a time, leaving a thin layer of red meat and fiber on the skin. Then, I toss the skin (and the nasty fiber).

Here’s a quick demo:

First fillet the meat off of the bone.

On larger fish including dolphin, cut along the top and bottom, letting the knife slide along the bones until it hits the raised part of the spine. Cut 360 degrees around the fillet on both sides. The only point of attachment for the fillet is right on top of the spine. Cut a finger hole in the tail end of the fillet. Leaving both sides on the fish will support the fish and make cutting the second side easier.

Using the finger hole, lift the meat and cut the remaining connection on top of the spine.

Now, one section at a time, slice the meat away from the skin. With the knife at an angle, work the blade about and eighth of an inch above the skin. Do not press down hard, as you will get all of the dark meat against the skin.

It’s a clean and simple way to get the most desirable fillets. Trim out the red meat in the middle and enjoy nice, white fillets with no scales!