【Reading】にまいおろし

【English Name】Nimai-oroshi (two-piece fillet)

One of the indispensable techniques in fish preparation is nimai-oroshi (two-piece filleting). First the head is cut off and the innards removed, then a blade is passed along the backbone to remove one fillet. The other side remains with the bone attached, so the fish is divided into a total of two parts, which is the origin of the name.

While the two parts separated in this way are sometimes used directly in cooking, if one proceeds to the step of removing the bone from the bone-attached side, it becomes sanmai-oroshi (three-piece filleting). Sanmai-oroshi is considered the most widely applicable technique in handling fish, and nimai-oroshi is the stage preceding it.

As derivative methods, ryomen-oroshi—cutting off the belly and back in turn—and daimyo-oroshi—quickly separating a fillet in a single stroke—are also known. Daimyo-oroshi suits small fish, slender fish, and fish with softer flesh; because a fair amount of flesh remains on the bone side, the word daimyo (feudal lord) was attached to convey the sense of a "luxurious way of filleting." For flat-bodied fish such as hirame (flounder), gomai-oroshi (five-piece filleting) is adopted.