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–+ servings

Crispy Salmon Skin Salad

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Author Yuto Omura
Servings 2 servings

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

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.
    two pieces of salmon skin wrapped with kitchen paper on a white plate
  • 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.
    two pieces of salmon skin sprinkled with salt, pepper, and starch on kitchen paper on a white plate
  • 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.
    two pieces of salmon skin frying in a pan on the stove
  • Once crispy all over, turn off the heat and transfer to a wire rack or kitchen paper to drain the excess oil and cool.
    two pieces of crispy salmon skin draining on a wire rack
  • 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.
    whisked salmon skin salad dressing in a steel mixing bowl
  • 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.
    smoked salmon, cucumber and avocado coated with crispy salmon skin salad dressing
  • 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.
    breaking salmon skin by hand to top salad
  • Serve immediately and enjoy!
    Crispy salmon skin salad in a white mottled bowl on a white background

Notes

Leave no water on the skin: Wet skin spends the heat of the oil on boiling off water first. It fries up damp in places and crisps unevenly.
Judge the crunch after it cools: Cool the skin on the rack, then break one piece to test it. A clean crack means it is ready.
If it will not snap once cool: Return the skin to the pan over medium-high and fry again until crisp all over. Cool it on the rack and test it once more.
Whisk until it emulsifies: A split dressing tastes stronger in one bite and weaker in the next. Keep whisking until it comes together thick and creamy, and every bite carries the same flavor.
Dress the plate just before eating: Keep the leaves and the dressing apart until the salad goes to the table. The leaves start to wilt the moment the dressing touches them.