Chef Wayne Hirabayashi says no one should be afraid of buying a whole fish and filleting it. It's not that hard to part the meat from the bone, and meat that has been on the bone until shortly before it's cooked is the sweetest and most moist.

You do have to see it done once before you try it (see our video on www.honoluluadvertiser.com), but it truly is not rocket science.

Hirabayashi demonstrated the art of separating the meat from the bone with a kampachi farm-raised on the Big Island. (The fish, a member of the sensuously oily yellowtail family, is called kahala in the wild.)

"It's pure, clean and the best," Hirabayashi said, referring to the fact that many reef fish are now tainted with a reputation for having ciguatera or other contamination. Plus, it doesn't have lots of large-size scales that make cleaning difficult.

"That's the last thing you want to do is serve your guests scales," Hirabayashi said.

OK, simple as this: Remove the head, cutting around the "collar" line in a V-shape around the gills. (Some people consider the head a delicacy, with very highly flavored meat. So if you want to serve it, do so. Hirabayashi recommends barbecuing fish heads and serving them with a cold Heineken.)

On a large cutting board, with a hand holding the fish firmly in place, run the knife along one side of the backbone, head to tail. Cut along the backbone and open the fish to "butterfly" it or cut all the way through to separate it into fillets.

There's a bone line in the center of the fish and you can run your finger along it and use pliers (yes, household pliers, preferably needlenose) to pull out the little hairline bones.

"A good pliers is important because otherwise you can really beat up the flesh," Hirabayashi said. (Editor's note: I use eyebrow tweezers.)

"People just have to take it slow and practice," Hirabayashi said.

Anything you don't plan to cook, you save for the stock pot, Hirabayashi suggested. This is important for reasons of economy, if not only for culinary ones: "People don't realize when you start out with a 5-pound fish, you get maybe 2 pounds of usable fish."

Normally, one fish (unless it's HUGE) will yield two (5- to 6-ounce) fillets from each side of the backbone. That's enough for two people — maybe four portions if you're combining it with other ingredients.

After you fillet your fish, you can pan-fry them, skin-on, for a crispy effect, or skin them and cook as desired.

Hirabayashi prefers grapeseed oil to saute fish because it has a good smoke point and neutral flavor.

After finishing filleting the kampachi, Hirabayashi held up what remained — the skin, bones, etc. — and said: "This, you can use for BAIT!"