Monkfish and huss
Skate, monkfish, huss and shark are all cartilaginous fish. They don't have that comb-shaped conformation of bones that most flat and round fish have, and they don't have little bones either.
What the fishmonger delivers to the kitchen is usually a large block of meat bisected by a cartilaginous backbone. At first glance, it may look as though there is little trimming to do and that they are high yielding compared with flatfish, oily fish and the cod family. Yet this is hardly the case. The tail of an average-sized monkfish weighing 1.75kg loses more than half its weight in trim. Fully prepped, the humble dogfish (or huss), belonging to the shark family, costs as much as a sirloin steak.
Twenty-five years ago, about the time Alan Davidson wrote his comprehensive North Atlantic Seafood, huss and monkfish were both selling along the south coast of England for 30p a pound. Since then, their relative fortunes have changed. Monkfish has risen to the premier league of restaurant fish, leaving its rival in the lower division. The reason is more to do with texture and cooking than with taste.
Monkfish is firm and meaty. Tails may weigh up to 3.5kg, though these large specimens are rarer than they once were. It lends itself to pan-frying, and it's better when lightly cooked.
Filleting and trimming monkfish
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