Today, I will be leading you through how to clean/wash catfish either for your catfish pepper soup or for roasting, step by step.
Catfish are very slimy and this makes them hard to catch or hold, unless you are an expert. An expert, knows the right spot to hold and how to tame a catfish.
This is why salt or ash is needed to wash off the sliminess.
Note: Mine were still alive. So adding the salt stings them and makes them flip alot in the bucket and this causes the sliminess to wash off thier skin.
So if yours is already slaughtered, no need to wait for a while, just start washing with salt.
I must confess, I am scared of the sharp bones on their fins. The last time one poked me, it was very painful. So, I will be washing it very carefully.
If you bought yours from the market, then you can go straight to how to prepare catfish pepper soup because most times, they’re sold already washed. So, no, no sliminess.
If you are washing for the purpose of roasting, you can roast using any of the methods below:
1. By using an oven if available.
2. By using charcoal fire.
I am using life catfish I bought directly from the fisherman here in my location.
So, let’s begin.
INGREDIENTS
- Fresh Catfish (quantity of choice)
- 1-2 tbls of salt
Below is the complete video you can watch on how to clean/wash catfish.
CATFISH WASHING PROCESS
Turn the catfish in a bucket and add lots of salt to it. Allow for 10-15 minutes.
When the time is up, turn the catfish in a basin, add a little water and begin washing.
Wash and put in a suitable container aside.
When you are done washing, throw out the water and rinse the basin.
Turn the catfish back in the basin and add more water to it.
Using a knife, cut the fish towards the throat to remove the intestines.
Note: this is to avoid the taste of the fish changing after roasting.
After removing the intestines, wash well with water.
Open the mouth of the fish, grab the tail of the fish, and push it into the mouth of the fish. Making a round shape.
Repeat the step above till all the fish is finished.
After this, get a tray and spread the fish on it.
Set in the sun to dry up. This is to avoid it peeling when roasting the fish.
While you wait, set your oven to heat up or add charcoal to the charcoal stove and make a fire.
When the water is dried up, set the catfish on the tray of the oven or the roasting iron and place in the oven or on the charcoal.
Note: If you will be roasting it in the oven, it’s advisable to set the heat of up and down.
Flip over with time to avoid burning.
And we are done.
Do share with family and friends.
