There are two ways to skin a fish: you can either choose to do it before you cook it, or you can do it after you cook it. Either way will work fine, but it's often easier to skin a fish once you've already cooked it. Many times, after the fish is cooked, you can simply pull on the skin and it will peel right off. For those who would prefer to remove the skin before cooking, follow the simple instructions below.

To skin a cooked fish fillet, simply grab the skin at the tail end with tongs while the fish is still very hot, and pull. The skin, if the fish is fully-cooked, will almost slide off the fillet.

In order to skin a fish before cooking, first bone, and fillet the fish. Then place the fillet on a cutting board with the skin side facing down. If the fish is slippery, you can sprinkle a little coarse salt on you fingers and the working surface. Using a very sharp knife, not serrated, cut through the fillet at the tail end all the way down to the skin. Do not cut all the way through the skin. Now the knife should be rotated so that the blade is laying almost flat against the cutting board with the sharp edge facing toward the head of the fish. Now, gently use a back-and-forth sawing motion to slide the knife between the skin and the fillet. Cut all the way from the tail to the head, keeping the skin pulled tightly and the sharp edge of the knife angled slightly downward, away from the fillet. This way, you are sure to only cut the skin and not the fillet.

Always be sure to use care when dealing with sharp knives. Dull knives should not be used, as the blade will have a tendency to tear the fillet and not cleanly slice through it.