Fillet

The everyday cut, the side of the fish lifted clean off the bone. With small fish like sardines and anchovies it means skin and pin bones gone, leaving flat strips you can lay straight onto bread without picking anything apart. The trade is richness: a fillet gives up some of what the skin and bone hold, which is why a whole sardine often tastes deeper than a filleted one. The convenient cut, and the most common one you will meet.