How To Clean Corvina Fish - Explore Cook Eat

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Two corvina on a white plate which have been cleaned and the fins have been cut off.

My mom bought these beautiful fish from H-Mart in Dallas and gifted them to me. These are fresh corvina fish, which my Korean mom tells me are called "jogi."

Koreans absolutely love yellow corvina, called "gulbi," which have been salted and preserved. Gulbi have already been cleaned and are ready to cook. However if you have "jogi" which you need to clean and gut prior to preparing, then follow these simple steps to get your corvina ready to cook and enjoy!

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Easy Steps To Clean Corvina (Yellow Croaker)
Time To Prepare Your Corvina Fish!
FAQ
Here Are Some Fish Recipes You May Enjoy!
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Easy Steps To Clean Corvina (Yellow Croaker)

It's super easy to clean your corvina fish! Here's the step by step tutorial to clean your fish.

Kitchen Tools Needed To Clean Corvina

First, get your kitchen scissors and a sharp knife ready for use. These two kitchen tools are essential for cleaning your corvina.

Use A Knife To Scrape Off Scales

My corvina didn't have any noticeable scales that I needed to remove. If you have scales on your fish that you want to remove, they are easily scraped away by using a small knife.

Remove All Fins and Spines Using Kitchen Scissors

Two whole corvina with fins on a white plate. — Corvina Fish With Fins

The corvina you see pictured above have the following fins:

Dorsal fins (on the back)
Pectoral fins (on the sides, just behind the head)
Caudal fins (on the tail)
Pelvic fins (on the underside, below the pectoral fins)
Anal fins (on the underside, next to the caudal fins)

Remove all of these fins using a good sturdy pair of kitchen scissors. Please use caution as some of these fins and/or spines are sharp!

You'll want to cut as close to the body of the fish as you can.

Two corvina fish on a white plate. Someone is holding one of them and is using scissors to cut the fins on the back of the fish off.

Two corvina on a white plate. Someone is holding one of the fish and using a pair of scissors to cut off the tail fins.

Ok, now we'll clean out the insides!

Use A Knife To Cut The Underside Of The Fish So You Can Remove The Innards

Now it's time to clean out the insides of the fish for which you will need your sharp knife. Stand the fish on its back, and use your knife to cut the fish open from just under the head to the tail. Start the cut from just under the mouth where the openings are, as pictured below.

Two corvina fish on a white plate. Someone is holding one of the fish and has a knife poised over the fish ready to cut it open to clean out the insides. — Make a shallow cut using a sharp knife on the underside of the fish.

You'll want to make a shallow cut so you can just open the fish up to clean out the insides.

Once open, you can see the guts and intestines that you will need to remove. Remove these as best you can, along with any internal membranes, leaving the delicate flesh that you will cook.

A corvina which has been opened showing its guts and insides. It is being held open by a hand and there is a knife next to the fish. — Open the fish to reveal the guts and intestines.

A corvina which has been cut open and is being held open to show the insides. The guts have been removed and are on the plate next to the opened fish and there is a knife next to the fish. — Open the fish to reveal the guts and intestines.

One Last Cut!

Two corvina fish on a white plate with a knife between the fish. Someone is using a pair of scissors to cut a hard part of the fish located on the underside just below the head.

Ok here I am going to show some extreme ignorance I apologize! There is a very hard portion on the underside of the fish that is not easy to cut with a knife. At this time I do not know the name of this part of the anatomy of this fish. This part is located just under the mouth of the fish and is only around 1.5 inches long.

My recommendation is to use scissors to cut through this hard portion, as pictured above.

Give Your Fish A Good Rinse

Someone holding a corvina fish which has been cut open and rinsing it.

You've arrived at the last step of cleaning your fish. Give it a good rinse with some water, making sure to rinse both the insides and the skin.

And that is it!

Time To Prepare Your Corvina Fish!

Your beautiful corvina fish are now ready to cook and enjoy! I recommend baking or pan frying these delicious fish!

FAQ

Is corvina safe to eat?

Corvina is a delicious fish that is safe to eat! Great methods for cooking this fish include pan frying, baking, and steaming.

Is corvina the same as croaker?

Corvina is a general name for a large range of fish which are either drum fish, or croaker fish (source: Chef-Resources.com). Therefore not all corvina are croakers, but all croakers are corvina.

What does croaker taste like?

Croaker is a mild and delicate, almost sweet tasting fish with a firm flesh.

Here Are Some Fish Recipes You May Enjoy!

Here are some fish recipes that you may enjoy:

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Cheers!

Grace