In Japan, some people will tell you the skin is the best part of the salmon. I’m one of them. In fact, I love it so much that I cook salmon with the skin on, whatever the dish.
For this salad, the skin is the only thing I cook. I fry it until crisp, then crush it by hand over avocado and smoked salmon dressed in wasabi soy sauce. It snaps against your teeth and gives off the toasty smell of browned skin and of the salmon itself.
Salmon skin salad
Recipe Snapshot
- What is it? Salmon skin salad is my own Japanese-style creation, crushed pan-fried salmon skin scattered over smoked salmon and avocado tossed in wasabi and soy sauce dressing, all on leafy greens.
- Flavor profile: First, the crackle and crunch of skin under your teeth. Then the toasty smell of seared skin and smoked salmon. Soy sauce comes last, wasabi chasing it.
- Why this recipe works: Whisked until creamy, the dressing never splits, so every bite is evenly seasoned. The salmon doubles up in one bowl, crisp skin with silky smoked salmon standing in for sashimi.
- How to make it: Shallow-fry dried, cornstarch-dusted skin and cool it on a rack. Meanwhile, whisk the dressing, toss the salad and top with crushed skin. You need only a pan, bowl and whisk.
- What to expect: This salad takes about 15 minutes. The one catch is frying the skin. Leave it untouched until the edges go golden, and judge it by how it snaps once cooled.
What Is Salmon Skin Salad?
Salmon skin salad is a Japanese-style salad with crisp, pan-fried salmon skin as its star. You will not find it among Japan’s known traditional dishes. I came up with it myself.
Leafy greens line the bottom of the bowl. Over them go smoked salmon, avocado, and cucumber, tossed in a creamy, emulsified wasabi and soy sauce dressing, and the hand-crushed skin crowns the lot. Think of the skin as the salad’s croutons, only made of salmon instead of bread.
In Japan, plenty of people eat grilled salmon, skin and all, and shop fillets usually come with the skin on. Outside Japan it often goes the other way, and the skin gets taken off the fillet. Yet salmon skin fried crisp on its own is a more familiar sight at sushi restaurants abroad, where the salmon skin roll is built around it.
I improvised this salad without looking anything up. The idea of a salad with crispy salmon skin came to me, and I kept rearranging things as I cooked until it settled into the shape it has now. It came from imagination alone, a dish that is truly my own creation.
Crispy Salmon Skin Salad Ingredients
- Salmon skin: I buy skin-on salmon fillets and take the skin off myself. That is because in Japan, fillets for grilling are sold with the skin on, and raw skin by itself rarely shows up in stores. If you do spot salmon skin sold on its own, go ahead and use that. The fillets left behind can become teriyaki salmon, miso-glazed salmon or salmon flakes, eaten the same day as this salad or made ahead.
- Smoked salmon: This covers the salmon flesh, apart from the skin. In Japan I would reach for sashimi-grade salmon, but I chose smoked salmon on purpose because it is easy to find almost anywhere. Pick thinly sliced cold-smoked salmon. It is silky and close to raw, so it stands in for sashimi. Hot-smoked salmon, cooked through and flaky, is a different product.
- Wasabi: Stirred into the dressing, it brings the heat that arrives last. Choose a paste that lists real wasabi (hon wasabi) in its ingredients. Some tubes labeled wasabi are horseradish dyed green. The one I recommend is the S&B paste made with real wasabi.
Substitution Ideas
- Smoked salmon → Sashimi-grade salmon: Making this in Japan? Sashimi-grade salmon works fine too, as long as the label says sashimi grade and you slice it thin. Still, for a casual salad like this one, smoked salmon is plenty, and I stick with it on purpose unless the sashimi costs less.
- Soy sauce → Chinese light soy sauce: If you cannot find Japanese soy sauce, this is the easiest swap. Use the same amount. The flavor comes out cleaner, with a little less depth.
- Soy sauce → Tamari: This is the swap for when you need to avoid gluten. Use the same amount. Tamari is thicker and sweeter, so the dressing turns a little heavier.
How to Make My Japanese Salmon Skin Salad
If you prefer to watch the process in action, check out my YouTube video of this salmon skin salad recipe!
i. Check the salmon skin for any scales left on it. If you find some, scrape them off with a small knife or a fish scaler.
ii. Give the skin a quick rinse under cold running water, then press it with paper towels until it is completely dry.
iii. Start heating a frying pan over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, season both sides of the skin with salt and pepper, then sprinkle on cornstarch and rub it in. Shake off the excess so only a thin, even film is left.
The cornstarch draws the surface moisture in and turns into a delicate crust.
On wet skin, the pan’s heat goes into boiling off the water first, and crisping only starts after that. Finish too soon and the skin stays soggy in patches. Dry skin takes the heat right away, and its own fat melts out into a shattering crunch. The less moisture, the better it crisps.
i. Add a high-smoke-point cooking oil to the hot pan and lay the skin in, scale side up.
ii. Shallow-fry it without touching it. After about 2 minutes, when the edges turn golden and start to crisp, flip it once and fry the other side.
iii. Once it is crisp all over, turn off the heat and lift the skin onto a wire rack to drain. If you do not have a rack, paper towels work too.
You only know the skin is crisp once it has cooled on the rack. If it snaps cleanly, it is done.
i. While the skin cools, take a large bowl and combine the olive oil, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, toasted white sesame seeds, wasabi paste, lemon juice, honey and black pepper.
ii. Whisk hard until everything comes together into a thick, creamy emulsion. Shaking it in a lidded jar works too.
I use a balloon whisk.
Left alone, oil and acid separate. Whisk hard and the oil breaks into tiny droplets that scatter through the acid, so the dressing holds together. An emulsified dressing gives every bite the same flavor, and the wasabi heat, the lemon’s tartness and the soft sweetness of honey stay in balance, with none of them overpowering the rest.
i. Cut the avocado into cubes, and the Japanese cucumber and smoked salmon into bite-size pieces.
ii. Add them to the dressing bowl and fold gently from the bottom up until everything is coated. Go easy on the avocado so the cubes keep their corners.
i. Spread the mixed leaves in a bowl.
ii. Spoon the dressed salad over the leaves.
iii. Crush the salmon skin into small pieces by hand and scatter it over the top.
The skin stays out of the dressing and goes on last, so it is still crisp when you take a bite.
iv. Serve right away.
Tips for the Best Salmon Skin Salad
- Dry the skin completely before it goes in the pan. Even a little dampness keeps the skin from crisping. After rinsing, press it with paper towels, then press it once more for good measure.
- Dust on the cornstarch in a thin, even layer. A thin film leaves the skin’s own texture alone and only adds crunch.
- Have a high-smoke-point oil ready for the frying. Check what is in your bottle before the skin goes into the pan.
- Whisk the dressing until it turns thick and creamy. Stop too soon and the oil and soy sauce coat the salad separately, so one bite tastes different from the next. More than anything else, this whisking makes or breaks the plate.
By the time the skin is cooling on the rack, the prep above has already decided whether it snaps.
What to Serve With Japanese Salmon Skin Salad
- Simple Shio Onigiri (Salted Rice Balls)
- Homemade Miso Soup
- Dashimaki Rolled Omelette
- Silky Chawanmushi Egg Custard
Crispy Salmon Skin Salad Troubleshooting
If the skin still will not snap once it has cooled, either some moisture was left on it or the frying stopped too early. Put it back in the pan over medium-high heat and fry until it is crisp all over. Lift it onto the rack again, let it cool and test the snap one more time.
Without enough force behind the whisk, the dressing never emulsifies, and the oil splits off and rises to the top. Whisk it hard again, or pour it into a lidded jar and shake. Once it has come together thick and creamy, fold in the avocado, cucumber and smoked salmon.
Greens wilt when the dressing reaches them too early. Lay a fresh bed of leaves in the bowl. Spoon the dressed salad over them just before you eat.
More Japanese Salmon Recipes
- Crispy Rice Salad with Salmon
- Salmon Don (Marinated Sashimi Bowl)
- Pan-Fried Ponzu Salmon
- Salmon Sushi Roll with Takuan
Once you have skinned a fillet for this salad, the rest of the salmon has plenty of places to go, from a marinated sashimi bowl to pan-fried ponzu salmon, and you will find them all in Japanese Salmon Recipes.
Crispy Salmon Skin Salad
Ingredients
- 2-3 strips salmon skin scales removed
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
- ½ tsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 avocado cubed
- 1 Japanese cucumber or half Persian/English cucumber, small chunks
- 60 g smoked salmon roughly cut, ready-to-eat
- 50 g mixed leaves baby spinach, arugula, mesclun mix, and red leaf lettuce.
Dressing
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- ½ tbsp toasted sesame oil
- ½ tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 1 tsp wasabi paste
- ½ tsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp honey
- ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
The ingredient brands and tools I trust are in my Japanese pantry guide and my cooking tools guide.
Can’t find certain Japanese ingredients? See my substitution guide here.
Instructions
- Check 2-3 strips salmon skin for scales and use a small knife or fish scaler to remove them. Rinse them with water then pat them dry thoroughly with kitchen paper.
- Start preheating a pan over medium-high. While you wait, sprinkle the salmon skin with 1 pinch salt and pepper and ½ tsp cornstarch. Rub all over both sides to evenly cover and dust off any excess.
- Add 1 tbsp cooking oil to the pan and place the salmon skin with the scale side facing up. Avoid moving it while it fries. Once golden and crispy on the edges, flip and crisp up the other side.
- Once crispy all over, turn off the heat and transfer to a wire rack or kitchen paper to drain the excess oil and cool.
- Take a large mixing bowl and add ½ tbsp olive oil, ½ tbsp toasted sesame oil, ½ tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds, 1 tsp wasabi paste, ½ tsp lemon juice, ½ tsp honey and ⅛ tsp ground black pepper. Whisk thoroughly until emulsified.
- Cube 1 avocado, and cut 1 Japanese cucumber and 60 g smoked salmon into bitesize pieces. Place them in the bowl with the dressing and gently mix until evenly coated.
- Arrange 50 g mixed leaves in a serving bowl and spoon the dressed mixture over the top. Use your hands to crush the salmon skin into small pieces and sprinkle it over the salad.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
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