First YT wheres the belly meat?
 

I went out with Josh and got my first YT. It was 45 inches and 26lbs. I've never caught anything like it. It was pretty amazing pulling against it. I have to admit, it made me feel pretty ashamed at how much my forearms were burning while fighting it.

Its been on ice now for a good while and I'm ready to harvest. I've read many posts here saying how good YT belly is and not to throw it out. It sounds pretty simple (the belly) but how do I know which meat to separate as belly meat? Does it look different? I've only filleted small fish and I don't want to waste any of this beautiful fish

Thanks!

Its the meat between the ribcage and skin. Youtube it. Tommy Gomes of Catalina Offshore Products has a good clip on how to fillet a yellowtail. It might be under Bubba Blade as well. Good luck.

It looked like he tossed it. And it looked like it had inards with it. Im assuming you have to go back and cut it away from that lower section?

Don't forget the collars (japanese chicken wings).

Also, don't forget the cheek meat! Hamachi Kama is da bomb!

YT are pretty easy to clean. They have firm meat, fairly tough skin, and heavy bones, so if you slip a bit you don't slash the fillet in half like you can with tuna or other softer meat fish. Here are some videos to contrast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyVA8JjdQ1g
Tommy does a pretty good job here but he does indeed trash the belly when he removes the ribs. The farther you wrap the initial shoulder cut, as opposed to a 45 degree cut, around under the head the more belly meat you get.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2rTrwW-5a4
In this vid the cutter is more prepping the fillet for sushi or to set up for cooking. He carefully removes the ribs with as little meat removed as possible.
I couldn't find a video of it, but my way of maximizing belly meat is to remove both fillets with shoulder cuts even more shallow angled than Tommy's. I can then remove the belly in one piece. I prefer this for smoking the fish. Mike

Thanks guys. In regard to smoking, is all of the fish good for smoking or only the belly and collars?

Yellowtail filets are great to smoke.

i smoke every piece. my wife and kids don't like fish for some strange reason so i usually smoke up my fish and bring it to work for everyone.

my favorite would have to be the collars but i really enjoy every part of the yt smoked.

when cutting the ribs out of the belly meat just follow the contour of the ribs. it'll be a little thinner than the rest but its very fatty meat and awesome on the smoker.


:cheers1:

All the meat from a yellow tail is good to smoke. The bellies and collars are preferred due to the higher fat continent. They don't tend to dry out. While the fillets are more versatile for many other cooking methods. This video isn't of a yellow tail but it shows the shoulder cut and one piece belly removal. I use this exact technique for tuna with great results but haven't used it on YT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hvAfQqWAL4

When it comes to fish handling and processing, if the Japanese do then I should too. Mike