This article refers to the cut of meat. For other uses, see Fillet.

A fillet (or filet) (from the French word filet; pronounced /ˈfɪlɪt/ in British English, /fɨˈleɪ/ in American English and /filɛ/ in French), is a piece or slice of boneless cut of meat or fish.

A slice of fish flesh of irregular size and shape which is removed from the carcass by a cut made parallel to the backbone, usually 2 to 12 oz. Some fillets, especially of fresh fish and those used to make up the larger frozen blocks, may be larger than 12 oz. However, for most institutional foodservice and home uses, frozen fish fillets over 12 oz. are not generally available. Special cut fillets are taken from solid large blocks; these include a "natural" cut fillet, wedge, rhombus or tail shape. Fillets may be skinless or have skin on; pinbones may or may not be removed.^[1]

Contents 1 Meat 2 Chicken 3 Fish 4 References

[edit] Meat

In the case of beef, it most often refers to beef tenderloin, especially the filet mignon.

[edit] Chicken

Chicken fillets are cut from chicken breasts.

[edit] Fish

In the case of fish, fillets are generally obtained by slicing parallel to the spine, rather than perpendicular to the spine as is the case with steaks. The remaining bones with the attached flesh is called the "frame", and is often used to make fish stock. As opposed to whole fish or fish steaks, fillets do not contain the fish's backbone; they yield less flesh, but are easier to eat.

Fletch is a large boneless fillet of halibut, swordfish or tuna.^[1]

There are several ways to cut a fish fillet:

Cutlet

This fillet is obtained by slicing from behind the head of the fish, round the belly and tapering towards the tail. The fish is then turned and the process repeated on the other side to produce a double fillet

Single

This fillet is more complex than the cutlet and produces 2 separate fillets, one from each side of the fish.

"J" Cut

This fillet is produced in the same way as a single fillet but the pin bones are removed by cutting a "J" shape from the fillet

[edit] References