【Reading】ごまいおろし

【English Name】fillet a fish into five pieces

When processing flat-bodied fish such as flounder (hirame), flatfish (karei), and sole (shitabirame), the indispensable knife technique in Japanese cuisine is gomai-oroshi (five-piece filleting). This technique is also used for large fish such as tuna and bonito that are difficult to handle with three-piece filleting.

The flow of the work begins by tracing the knife along the edge of the fin area—the band-shaped portion that constitutes the engawa (fin meat). At this point, the distinguishing feature from other techniques is the use of the "reverse knife" (sakasa-bocho), with the blade tip pointed upward. Next, run the blade along the spine, and from there advance the blade outward to peel the flesh from the bone. Repeating this process on both the top and bottom sides yields five parts in total: two on the back side, two on the belly side, and one central bone.

In the case of large-bodied fish such as tuna and bonito, the cut-out flesh is called a "fushi." A "saku" is one of these trimmed to an appropriate size.

Related advanced techniques also exist. There is "nanamai-oroshi" (seven-piece filleting), in which the engawa is removed first before filleting, making seven pieces total, and "kyumai-oroshi" (nine-piece filleting), in which the engawa is separated after completing the five-piece filleting, making nine pieces total.