Crispy Skin Isn't Just For Chicken

I have come a long way as a cook since I began only a few years ago.  Back then, I used to think only of flavor.  After all, food has to have good taste.  But I thought nothing of balance.

A good dish needs balance.  There needs to be balance in color; after all, nobody really wants to eat a plate of brown.  There needs to be balance in tastes, utilizing heat and acid to balance richness.  Just as importantly, a good dish needs balance in textures.  There needs to be an element of crunch in an otherwise soft dish.

There is really something magical about cutting into a piece of protein that is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.  Most people look to fried chicken as a good example of this.  For a pescatarian, the same effect can be had with a great piece of fish, like salmon.  Take tonight's dinner, for instance.

Tonight, I made a crispy salmon with a potato hash over a fennel puree.  While everything was good, the crispy salmon skin made the dish.  It added a crunch where something was needed to break up the texture.

There are a couple things to keep in mind when cooking skin-on fish and trying to get the skin crispy.  First, score the skin (meaning cut thin stripes into it with your knife).  This will better allow it to render, more easily crisping up.  Secondly, and most importantly, cook the fish in a hot skillet SKIN SIDE DOWN for about 98% of the time, turning once for only a few seconds to color the flesh side.  Resist all urges to flip the fish.  Salmon, like most fish, will cook just fine through the skin, but if you cook it on the flesh side and then try to crisp the skin, you will end up with dry salmon, as it will have long overcooked.  Finally, don't put a sauce on top of your fish.  There is no sense in having wonderfully crispy salmon skin if you are going to moisten it with a sauce and cause it to lose that texture.  Sauce your plate before adding your fish.

A little sea salt and lemon over the top and you have a perfect dish!

(For those of you who like crispy salmon skin, you can also cut the skin off before baking, grilling, or poaching salmon.  Just remove any additional flesh on the salmon skin with a spoon, and bake it on parchment paper between two baking sheets to keep in flat.  When it comes out, add a bit of salt and you have a great salmon skin cracker!)