How to Bone a Sole Meuniere

Sole meuniere is a classic French food made from the fillet of the sole fish which is a type of flat fish, similar to flounder or halibut. To prepare this dish, the chef typically coats the fish fillets in flour, seasons them with salt and pepper and pan fries them. The finished fish is then covered in a meuniere sauce, which consists of browned butter, parsley, lemon and capers. To properly prepare this dish, the skin and bones are removed from the flesh of the fish, leaving four clean fillets.

• 1

  Place the sole fish with its head toward you and the dark side of the fish facing up. Cut across the body just behind the gill plate with the fillet knife to remove the head.

• 2

  Make a shallow cut across the base of the tail with the knife. Feel for the line of backbone that runs down the center of the fish. Place the length of the fillet knife edge along that line and cut firmly, yet carefully, along that line from the base of the tail to the other end of the fish. Cut down into the fish until you feel the bones, but do not cut through the bones.

• 3

  Feel with your fingers within the cut to identify the backbone. Place the tip of the knife at the end of and on one side of the backbone. Run the tip of the knife under the flesh from one end of the fish to the other. Listen for the tip of the knife to make a clicking sound when it runs across the rib bones within the fish to ensure that you are cutting to the proper depth. Repeat this step several times until the fillet begins to come loose from the fish.

• 4

  Turn the knife flat along the ribs of the fish. Work the knife back and forth to remove the remaining flesh from the rib bones. Repeat this step on the other side of the backbone to remove the second fillet. Flip the fish over and remove the other two fillets from the bottom side of the fish in the same manner.

• 5

  Place a fish fillet with the skin down on the cutting board. Hold one end of the fillet down with your fingers close to the edge of the fillet. Make a downward cut near where you are holding the fillet through the flesh, but not through the skin. Turn the knife sideways and work the edge of the knife between the skin and flesh until they separate completely. Repeat this step with the other fillets. Your sole fillets are now ready to prepare as sole meuniere.