Salmon skin is an under utilized ingredient. To me it’s like the bacon of the fish when crisped up nicely. Often, I see it left as a scrap on plates because like undercooked bacon, it’s not so good. My mantra, at least concerning salmon, is “Say Yes to Salmon Skin!” This recipe is something my mom came up with when I was a kid and I didn’t quite appreciate it until I was an adult. I don’t think I disliked it as a kid but at some point it went from blasé to yum! You don’t have to seek out salmon just for the skin, but when you have a recipe like the shake gohan recipe where you would normally discard the salmon skin, use it in a side dish.
Ingredients (2 servings)
2 pieces of salmon skin
2-3 inches of the top of a daikon
3 tsp. soy sauce (1.5 per serving)
2 lemon wedges (1 per serving)
Directions
1) Put the salmon skin in a toaster oven and put it on the broiler setting or use the broiler in your oven. Toast in the oven until the salmon skin is nice and crispy. It usually will bubble up but sometimes it won’t so make sure you check it so that it doesn’t burn.
2) Chop up the salmon skin (now salmon bacon) into strips. (see photo below)
3) Grate the daikon to make daikon oroshi. (See daikon grater for more info on daikon and how to grate it).
4) Serve the daikon oroshi into two bowls, top with salmon skin, a piece of lemon for garnish.
5) Squeeze the juice of one lemon wedge into each bowl and drizzle with soy sauce.
Use the top portion of the daikon for daikon oroshi. It’s the sweetest part of the daikon.
Even though the salmon was cooked with the skin on, it needs to be cooked once more! Crisp the salmon skin in a toaster oven or a regular oven on broil.
When the salmon skin is done it will be crispy like good bacon.
Chop into strips.
Top the daikon oroshi with the salmon skin and a piece lemon. Squeeze lemon juice over it.
Add the soy sauce. This side goes particularly well with deep fried food but it goes with anything.
Naomi Kuwabara was born and raised in California but spent many summers in Japan growing up. She has spent time living in Hokkaido and Osaka, both meccas for Japanese cuisine. Her passion is cooking and sharing her experiences cooking Japanese food with others. Her blog Umamitopia is about her experiences cooking Japanese food. Her greatest inspirations are from her mother and grandmother. Her cooking adventures can be found at http://umamitopia.com.
