How to fillet kippers with Les Leckie

An introduction to the smoked herring kipper and a demonstration of how to prepare it for cooking.

[Pipster]

Great video. Many thanks for posting. I am always very appreciative of people who take the time and effort to help others by posting such helpful instructional videos. Good on ya mate !
I have just had kippers but it was a bit of a sad affair, hence searching google for some I wish I had seen this before. Next time they will be done your way.
Many Thanks.

[mikegrainger]

Thanks Les. Haven't had kippers since I was a small boy. My Grandma used to debone them before I had any. Went off them about 40 years ago when I decided to cook some myself. Now I know how to take the bones out, I'll try them again. Thanks again.

[allseeingeye]

I have to say very easy and straight forward. I watched your video at about 1 am and for lunch I've just had a delicious boned kipper. It went as simple as watching your video. It made me hungry for an Arbroath smokie though.

[jeffdavies]

Great video.. I did it this morning with Kippers from Woolies, bit fiddly but it works, I used rubber gloves. Microwaved the fillets, and had them on toast with poached egg... yummo!

[motomallen]

Many thanks Les, a great guide to boning a Kipper. This has given me the confidence to try it for myself.

[EdwardLindon]

Thanks very much for a very useful video for anyone who, like me, loves the flavour of kippers but can't abide the bones.

[MrBillytwice]

Thanks for this. I''ve been choking on those damn bones for literally 50 years...Off to buy some for my tea now. Thanks again.

[lauraverga]

Great video Les! Makes me crave for fish now 😂 x

[stumccabe]

The "dark meat" is the liver - rich in oil. I like it. Personally I just cook it whole and remove bones as I'm eating, but this would be useful if you were going to use the fillets as an ingredient in something else, like fish cakes. I love kippers as most people used to, but since the herring fishing ban in the late 70s people sort of forgot about them. If you eat buttered bread with your kippers it somehow stops the little bones being noticeable.

[afptter]

I wanted to say first and foremost THANKYOU Mr Leckie. I have always loved the unique taste and texture of kippers but for some years I have not been able to face the bone trauma. Your video has removed that. Its not easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is  but my word  it is worth it. Its noteworthy that no other chef offers any useful advice about this and I think you are a public benefactor to have solved it.
One question. The skin on your kippers strips so much more easily than mine that I wondered if yours had been scalded or maybe its the kippering. I use Crastor kippers..

[cassiendecabral]

I poach all the trimmings in milk. I then sieve and use that milk to make a kipper version of Cullen skink. Economical way to use artisan kippers which are not now as cheap as they were.

[LesLeckie]

Thanks for the kind words. Leave them in the fridge for an hour or so before you bone them. It helps if they're not too soft. Les

[muddundee]

We had Craster kippers for dinner last night, with marmalade on the side, gorgeous!

[Falaxuper]

The dark meat in the middle of the fillet is not the liver, as someone in the comments suggested. It's what it is - dark meat. Muscle fibers fall into two types: 'dark' (type I, slow-twitch) and 'light' (type II, fast-twitch). There is a third, combined type, but those two are the basic ones. Dark fibers are designed to contract in a slow, long-term, continuous manner (like for example our back muscles that are meant to constantly support our upper body weight), whilst light fibers are better at doing very quick, very intense, jerky moves (like the muscles in our eyelids or tongue). In the fish fillet, the longitudinal strip of muscle in the center of the side of the fish's body is composed mostly of dark fibers, which makes sense, since the fish moves forward by swaying its body in a continuous, wave-like manner. The lighter parts are better at doing the job of rapidly changing depth, or quickly escaping from a danger. Hope this solves the nature's secret :) Cheers and thanks for an awesome tutorial.

[ambertjeblue]

Perfect description. Thankyou very much. I am now going to debone and cook mine for my tea. Just wish they only cost a £1. I paid £4.59 for a pair. !

[alexkravchenko]

Thank you Les for a very detailed boning instruction. I think you showed the most efficient and contrlled way to get the white meat fillets from the Kippers, which is very important if you eat the fish for breakfast with tea. I hope you were not throwing away all the parts that you put away while doing the boning though. I believe that the most nutrition components of the fish (oils and minerals) reside around the skin, head, and fins.
Also: does it really need to be microwaved or cooked?

[LesLeckie]

Cheers, Mate, that's very encouraging.

[kriswycoff]

Thank you . I do love my kippers . now I can make them at home .

[davidscott]

I like the video. I used to have kippers a lot as a boy probably because they were cheap. Fried as a whole cut off the head and tail and put on your plate. Remove the centre bones and away you went most of the bones came out then if you were lucky but you just ate with a thick piece of bread and butter to wash away any bones, So yes you can eat skin bones and fins. You didnt waste food when I was a young

[alexlegoboy]

Just a question do you have to remove the stomach lining because I see other people cook them whole and eat them hole except the bones and head and tail.