Photos: Step-by-step: How to clean and fillet a sardine

Begin by laying the fish on a board and making a small cut on the back, right behind the head and straight down through the backbone. Make another incision on the belly side just behind the front fins. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Sept. 5, 2014 11:36 AM PT

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Cleaning sardines isn’t difficult if you follow a few simple steps. After cleaning a couple of them, the process should take no more than a minute.

Holding the fish under running water, gently twist the head from the body. If you do this right, most of the innards will come away with the head. Discard the innards. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Cut a slit the length of the belly and rinse out the inside. Lay the fish on its back on the cutting board and make two shallow parallel cuts the length of the backbone. You’ll want to be careful not to cut all the way through the meat. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Finish cleaning by scraping away the black skin along the belly and cutting away the rib endings on either side. There will be some bones left, but these will be so fine they won’t be a problem. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)