Most people when they cook a fish don’t pay much attention to the fish skin other than to make sure it is clean or to throw it away. Some fish dishes utilize cutlets that still have the skin attached, but most people in the US at least are used to skinless fish fillets. That begs the question, can you eat fish skin? Yes, of course, you can eat fish skin so long as it is properly cleaned, descaled, and cooked properly.
While you may be thinking that we are referring to fish with the skin still attached, what we actually mean is that you can it the skin all by itself. Instead of sitting home and wondering can you eat salmon skin, check out some of our recipes below to transform your fish skins into delightful treats for your friends and family.
If you have fussy eaters at home but want to sneak in some healthy snacks, fish is always a great choice. Whenever my friends come to me for suggestions on what to feed their kids as healthy snacks, I always ask them, do you eat salmon skin? After they get over the shock of the question, I go on to tell them just how healthy and tasty fish skin can be. One of my toddlers' favorite afternoon snacks is the quick and easy salmon skin roll recipe ill share with you below.
Make sure the skins are washed and free of fish scales. Long strips of skin are better than small ones because we will be rolling them up to give them that juicy center. Take your washed fish skins and fold them into neat triangles, sort of like a burrito or a tamale.
Next, preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place folded fish skins to a deep metal baking pan and then put then the oven to bake for 45 minutes until they are golden brown. Alternatively, you can pan fry the folded fish skin in a shallow pan with a small amount of oil. Brown on each side and then cover the pot and let them cook for 15 minutes until they are cooked in the center. Remove them from the oven and cover them with a generous amount of soy sauce. Serve and enjoy!
There are many ways of how to cook whiting fish with skin, but sometimes, the skin will taste much better on its own. Fish skin be used as a topping for salad, soups, rice and more if you know how to prepare it properly. You may be wondering is fish skin good for you, and the answer is a resounding yes. Just like fish, the skin is full of omega-3 and healthy fats that improve circulation and heart health among other benefits.
When compared to bacon, there is no question of is fish skin healthy, because not only is it full of minerals and vitamins, it is also low on fat. You can also use fish bacon as a topper in any place that you would use bacon bits for a healthy substitute. So, are you ready to cook?
Take the skin of any fish, though for I will be using whiting, and remove the scales. Make sure to also remove the meat of the fish and fat of the fish from the skin to make it extra crispy. Pat the fish skin dry with a paper towel and then liberally coat both sides with sesame seed oil. Next, season both sides of the fish skin with sea salt, chili flakes, and black pepper.
Preheat your oven to 325 while you are letting the seasoning soak into your fish skins. After seasoning, take the fish skins and place them on a cookie tray that is covered in parchment paper. Put the fish skins in the oven for 30 minutes and allow them to bake until they are dry. When they come out of the oven they should be crispy, just like bacon. Cut the fish skins into small pieces and sprinkle over your food. It tastes great on rice, over poached eggs, or even on a salad.
If you are interested in eating fish skin on its own but are not sure how you are in luck. I have a wonderful recipe that you can use to make fish skin chips or fish skin crisps. They both follow the same preparation and cooking times, but they diverge a bit at the end. The main difference between the end result is that fish skin chips are exactly what it sounds like, crunchy chips. Fish skin crisps just take it a step further and are deep friend turning the chips into a crispy puff, similar to the pork rinds you may see in your local grocery store.
Depending on where you live, you may be able to purchase fish skin in your meat aisle already cut, cleaned and ready to fry. If not, pick up a whole fish, or even use a fish you recently caught. Learning how to skin a fish is pretty simple, you can check YouTube for helpful tutorials, or you can ask your local butcher for a quick lesson.
For this recipe, we will use salmon. You can buy filets, or you can use a whole salmon. Remove the skin from a salmon fillet. Make sure to keep your knife close to the edge while you hold the fish tightly to get a thin layer of skin. Make sure to remove all of the flesh and all of the fat. If you leave too much on the skin it will keep it from puffing up when you make crisp.
After cleaning the skins, take a cookie sheet and cover it with wax paper or baking paper. Place the salmon skins on the sheet, scale side down. Your oven should be preheated to 350 degrees Celsius. Put the skins in the oven and let them dry out for 3 - 4 hours. A helpful tip - Leaving your oven cracked open slightly will help the skins dry more quickly.
Once they are fully dried they should be crispy like potato chips and break apart just as easily. If they are not, put them back in the oven to keep drying them out. Once they are fully dry and a bit brittle to the touch, they are ready to eat. At this point, you can eat them as regular fish chips, or you can keep going to make fish crisps/puffs.
If you have a deep fryer, heat the oil to 170 degrees Celsius, or, simply put on a fry pot of oil to preheat. Once the oil is hot, drop in the fish skin. Poke the skin with a stick or your ladle to make sure it is fully submerged. The skin should immediately start to puff up and increase to about five times its original size.
They take about 1 minute to cook, once they are fully puffed, remove them from the oil and allow them to cool and drain off any excess oil. There is nothing quite like fish stick skin dipped in creamy ranch sauce to satisfy your craving for a crunchy snack. Either fish chips or fish puffs, all you need to do is pair them with a delicious dipping sauce and enjoy!
Every time my kids ask me is salmon skin healthy, I just remind them that the skin is as healthy as the fish. When they ask for potato chips, I remind them just how unhealthy those are and offer to make fish skin crackle instead. This is a rather quick recipe that can be made in under 20 minutes, which is perfect if you have a house full of guests who want to munch on snacks.
What you will need: Oven tray or grill tray, paper towels, salt, oil, metal bowl, scaled fish skin.
Take your paper towels and remove any excess water and any leftover scales from your fish skin. You can use any kind of fish skin that you like, for this recipe, I most often use salmon. Double-check that your fish skin has a nice layer of fat left on it, but no meat. Put all of your fish skin in your metal bowl, then add a generous amount of oil. Use enough to coat all of the fish skins, but not so much that they are dripping wet.
Next, take them out and salt both sides. Next, cut them into strips and lay them directly on the oven rack or a grill rack if you want to take your cooking outside. Make sure your oven is preheated and allow them to cook for 20-35 minutes depending on how many you have on the tray. Rotate them occasionally and flipping them occasionally so that they cook evenly on both sides.
An alternative to cooking them in the oven is to toss the rack onto a charcoal grill. Make sure the coals are simmering with no active flame. Allow them to sit covered in the grill for 30 minutes or until they crisp. Once they are nice and crisp, remove them from the oven and enjoy!
A lot of people wonder, do you eat the skin on salmon? Yes, you can eat the skin on salmon steaks when you cook them, or you can create delicious snacks from the skin alone. Not many people thing to eat salmon skin on its own, but not only is it extremely healthy, but it is also delicious. Here is one of our most popular recipes for fish skin that you can use to make salmon skin salad, eat on its own, or serve on top of other dishes to add texture.
Start with slices of salmon skin that has some meat and fat left on it. Remove the excess moisture from the skin by soaking it up with a paper towel. Next, season the meaty side of the skin with a sprinkle of salt and a sprinkle of black pepper. Next, coat both sides of the skin in corn flour. Achieve proper coating by filling a bowl with corn starch and dipping your fish skins in it during your preparation. Fold the fish skins in half and set aside.
Take a shallow fry pan and add an inch worth of oil. Allow the oil to reach a temperature of at least 300 degrees. Test the oil by dropping a sprinkle of starch in the pot, if it sizzles, its time to fry, if not, let it continue to heat. Drop in 1 or 2 fish skins at a time to fry. Allow the skin to brown well on one side, starting with the skin side first. After it has fried for about 1 minute, flip the skin over to fry on the other side.
Let them fry until they are a golden brown and very crisp, but not burned. When they are done, take them out of the pot and place them on a paper towel to drain the excess oil. You can cut the skin into a finger-sized slice or you can leave them large sizes if you prefer. Enjoy!
Not many people have ever thought of eating salmon skin, but after hearing the salmon skin nutrition benefits, it tends to become a staple in their diet. Salmon skin is made up of 50% protein which makes it a great source of nutrients to help build strong bones, muscles, and cartilage. Fish skin is also rich in potassium and vitamin D which is good for stamina and mental clarity. If you are interested in trying this powerful protein, our quick salmon skin recipe is the way to go.
Remove any meat from the salmon skin and then slice the fish skin into smaller pieces. Use a paper towel to remove any excess moisture. Next, add salt to taste and then toss the fish skin pieces in cornstarch. Spray the salmon skin with a light amount of oil and then air fry the skins for 5 minutes. Flip, and fry for another 5 minutes. If you don’t have an air fryer, you can pan fry with a small amount of oil. Once they are crisp, add your curry leaves,, Chilli Padis, and butter and allow them to simmer for about a minute or two.
Next, add in your sugar, salted egg yolks, and milk powder and stir well. Make sure all the ingredients are well incorporated but don’t beat the mixture and remove all the texture. Once it is fully mixed, add in your fish skin and fold it into the rest of the ingredients. Plate, and enjoy your protein-packed meal!