GRADE 10

HOME ECONOMICS-COOKERY
QUARTER 2 (Module 6)

LEARNING COMPETENCY:
Handle Fish And Shellfish
 Lesson 1:
IDENTIFY MARKET FORMS AND THE
STEPS IN PROCESSING FISH
BRIEF INTRODUCTION Processing of fish starts
from purchasing your desired
type of fish for a specific
recipe, trimming of fins,
removal of scales, washing of
debris and scales, and
eviscerating the fish to
prepare it for further
processing. Some recipe
requires fish to be butterflied
or portioned to size to
accommodate the cooking
method required for the dish.
MARKET FORMS OF SEAFOOD
 A. Fin Fish (Fresh and Fabricated, canned, and salted)

Whole: Fish is sold either scaled and eviscerated or left intact. It needs further processing such
as removal of gills, internal organs, and trimming of fins.

Drawn: Fish is processed with gills and internal organs removed. This is commonly used in
preparing stuffed grilled fish or sinigang.

Dressed: Fish is ready for cooking. Head, internal organs, fins, and gills removed. This is ideal for
canned sardines or bottled Spanish style preserve.

Fillet: Sides of the fish are cut away, deboned, and scaled. Sold mostly for breaded or battered
fish, other recipes include sweet and sour, fish fingers, and fish tausi with tofu.

Steaks: Drawn fish is sliced into cross sections. Steak cuts are ideal for adobong isda, fried fish,
and breaded fish.
Other forms:

Canned and bottled fish: Fin fish such bangus or milkfish are processed, dressed, and bottled
or canned. Canning fish is a way of preserving fish in brine or oil that are then vacuum sealed.

Salted: In fish sauce (patis) production, anchovies or dilis are used by mixing two parts fish
and one part fish that is then fermented for a year and then bottled to be used as condiment
and flavoring to dishes.
 B. Shellfish (Fresh Mollusks – Bivalves and
Crustaceans)

Scallops: Scallops are the meatiest amount the three, their meat is firmer
and denser due to their swimmer nature. Scallops are shucked to harvest
their meat and served as appetizers.

Clams: Just like scallops, clams can also be shucked but widely used
as soup protein.
 B. Shellfish (Fresh Mollusks – Bivalves and
Crustaceans)

Oysters: Considered as delicacy and delicious when eaten cooked or

raw with few drizzles of calamansi/lemon juice and a pinch of salt.

Mussels: These mollusks are a staple appetizer, commonly cooked as

soup or baked with butter and cheese.
 B. Shellfish (Fresh Mollusks – Bivalves and
Crustaceans)

Aside from fresh, there are frozen variants that can last
up to a year and salted that comes in canned version which
can last up to a year.

Crustaceans From the family of arthropods with hard

exoskeleton protecting their body, examples are crayfish, crab,
shrimp, and lobster.
Crabs: Alimango is a mud crab specie that is farm raised in shallow waters and mangrove
areas. Alimasag or blue crab is the salt water/marine crab specie. It can be found in shallow
waters about 70 meters deep in south Luzon regions and central Visayas (BFAR, 2020).
Alimasag has distinct spots and have smaller shell size than mud crabs.

Mud crabs can be found near estuaries Alimasag has orange substance known
and mangrove areas. Due to overexploitation as Aligue inside its shell. These are crab eggs
and removal of mangroves in coastal areas, that is sought after by culinarians. These are
the supply of crabs becomes scarce. sold in salted form which are used in various
Filipino dishes.
Shrimp and Prawns: These invertebrates are both farmed and harvested in both salt and
freshwater. In the Philippines particularly in Iloilo, large black tiger shrimp of 5 to 8 inches are
raised, farmed, and sold to seafood processing companies to be processed, shelled, vacuum
sealed, and sold as frozen shrimps to be cooked as Japanese tempura, cocktail shrimp, and
as additive to chopsuey and pancit dishes.
➢ General Rule: Always wash your hands before preparing
any dish. Clean surfaces, tools, and equipment. Sanitizing
your kitchen space will reduce the risk of food borne
diseases.
 Lesson 2:
HANDLE SEAFOODS HYGIENICALLY
BRIEF INTRODUCTION Now that you have an idea
of what are the market forms, let
us now look at how seafoods
should be prepared and handled
to avoid cross-contamination of
pathogens which will lead to loss
of quality to total spoilage which
may result to gastrointestinal
problems. To avoid such
problem, let us study the
important concepts behind
handling and preparation of
various seafood.
Cleaning and Fabricating and Preserving
Fin Fish
● Trimming and Scaling: Fins are
removed followed by scraping
the scales from tail to head
using the back of a knife or fish
scaler.
● Cleaning and washing:
Scrubbing fish under running
water to remove blood and
scales of fish.
● Eviscerating: Processing fish by
slicing fish open from tail section
to belly area to remove internal
organs.
Deboning: After the fish is cleaned,
open the fish by turning the fish flat
on its side and cutting along the belly
to the tail and slicing the fish
horizontally to make a butterflied fish.
Snap the backbone of the fish below
the head and pull the spine carefully
down to its tail. Using a tweezer, pull
pin bones and avoid pressing the fish
too hard. After removing the bones,
wash the fish with salt, soak fish in
brine solution and chill fish for future
processing.
● Filleting: This is done by laying
fish on its side and using a
flexible knife, slice from the
back of the gills, to the rib
cage, cut along the back bone,
down to the tail to remove the
flesh from the rest of the body.
Further removal of pin bones
using tweezers is done before
skinning the fish and prepared
for cooking.
● Skinning: After the fish has
been fillet, use a flexible knife
to cut and score the fish. Start
from the tail section of the fish,
score the skin off and lift the
flesh and hold the skin of the
fish as you continue to score
the meat using the sawing
motion. Flesh should peel away
from the skin. Trim of remaining
skin and remove flayed meat
for a clean finish.
● Fabricating: Refers to
cutting the fish to sizes
and portions, this is done
to separate the highly
sought after parts of fish
such as head and tail of
bangus for soups, belly of
tanigue for fish steaks,
and lean meat sides of
tuna for sashimi.
● Preserving: Brining (combination of water and
base chemical such as salt and some amounts
of sugar) fish to slow the growth of bacteria
which will compromise the quality of the fish.
Salting/bagoong by adding high sodium
chemicals and then fermented, filtered, and
bottled as condiment.
● Drying traditionally done under the sun, or
artificially using dehydrators to reduce
moisture content of the fish down to 10 to 15%.
Freezing fish and seafood are required to
extend the shelf life of a fish and reduce the
risk of pathogen and parasite reproduction by
removing heat and bring temperature down to
freezing point.
Methods in Thawing Frozen Ingredients
After processing and freezing fish and shellfish products, we
will discuss the importance of thawing goods properly to
maintain the quality, and nutritional value of seafood products.
Thawing: Thawing frozen seafood abruptly or leaving it in the
sink or under running water may seem to be a good way to
immediately remove ice crystals covering the fish you want to
cook but there are ways to keep the quality and freshness of
the fish.
● In a bath of water: Thawing frozen seafood in a bath of water removes
the ice by melting and rising the temperature of the seafood to room
temperature.
● Inside the refrigerator: Placing frozen seafood in a bowl and leaving it
in the lower section of the refrigerator. Thawing using the refrigerator
is ideal to keep the meat cool and inhibits the bacteria from
multiplying.
● Leaving out in the open: Leaving frozen seafood in a pan or plate is a
common way of thawing fish. However if left unattended, Bacteria will
grow at room temperatures 10 to 30 degrees Celsius.
● Using the microwave oven: Depending on the type and configuration
of the microwave, most microwave ovens have preset timer for the
type of meat to thaw. Users must understand the risk of pre-cooking
the meat as it might compromise the quality, juiciness and tenderness
of the meat.
➢ Some recipes do not require further processing as
recipes require different size and weight of fish and
some are used as is or cut to smaller portions.
(Examples are: sap-sap, dilis, galunggong)
➢ You can freeze your fish at home by cleaning the fish,
removing gills and internal organs, removing fins and
scales, and brining or salting the fish before placing
in a container.
➢ Drain blood and excess water from fish before
placing in a resealable bag or container.