Every once in a while, I get a little crazy at the sushi bar and order a roll. I know, it's absolutely insane, isn't it? However, the big, fat, "creative" rolls that are stuffed with the entire refrigerated case of sushi are a little much for me. Salmon skin will do just fine.
"Salmon skin" certainly doesn't sound all too appetizing, but the salty, smoky crispness that is a result of a few minutes in the chefs' toaster oven is absolutely delicious. It's nothing at all like the slimy, fatty texture that one would expect from raw fish skin. Some restaurants deep fry the salmon skin instead of roasting it.
If you're cooking salmon at home, it's be worthwhile to trim the skin and save it to prepare salmon skin in the same way. Food and Wine has a recipe based on the salmon skin roll at Bar Masa in New York.
Previous lessons at the School of Fish:
Saba - holy mackerel!
Hirame - white fish, sometimes halibut
Tai and Suzuki - snapper and sea bass
Maguro - tuna
Toro - fatty belly of tuna
Shiro Maguro - "white" tuna, aka albacore
Ahi tuna
Hamachi - amberjack, aka yellowtail
Sake - salmon
Gai - the bivalves, i.e.clams, scallops, and oysters
Ebi - shrimp
Ika and Tako - squid and octopus
Kani - crab
Masago and tobiko - roe, roe, roe your boat
Ikura - salmon roe
Uni - sea urchin (but not roe!)
Anago and Unagi - not just eel
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