Salmon Skin Roll: Shimogamo Japanese Restaurant
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| Flickr- Island Vittles |
| A mound of crispy, fried salmon skin that would put bacon to shame. |
The Ick Factor: A skin roll sounds pretty nasty. Just thinking about it brings up memories of flabby braised chicken thighs and gummy, gelatinous chicharrones. Not all skin is created equal though, and most people are willing to put aside these thoughts in order to mow down on the glory that is fried chicken skin. Fried chicken skin may be the reigning champ, but crispy salmon skin could be poised to de-throne it.
The secret? Salmon went and stole a page out of bacon's playbook.
(bite into all the juicy details after the jump)
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| Wikimedia Commons- Jeremy Keith |
| Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads... Salmon in the raw. |
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| Delicious salmon skin roll. |
Salmon skin is the closest you'll get to chowing down on bacon bits in sushi (at least at a respectable joint like Shimogamo), and even if it's deep fried it's still way more nutritious than the traditional porky product. Salmon skin is right next to that outer layer of dark fish meat that's loaded with flavor and healthy omega-3 fats.
In the roll it tasted crispy, smoky, and salty with a flavor that could easily be mistaken for bacon. (We'll be honest. Initially, we couldn't figure out which roll this was because bacon was not on the sushi menu, and that was some serious bacon bliss being delivered.) The texture of salmon skin is a bit more crispy and light than bacon, and managed to deliver a satisfying roll without the heaviness and guilt that can sometimes accompany that tasty slab-o-pork.
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| Choose your sake cup wisely at Shimogamo, for it will accompany you on the quest for a better bacon substitute. |
Always been a DIY-er? This is pretty easy offal challenge if you like to DIY in the kitchen. Step one: Go buy some salmon from pretty much anywhere. Make sure the skin is smooth and has been de-scaled well. Remove the skin from the fish and reserve the rest of that delicious pink meat for another purpose. (Like homemade lox!) Broil or fry those crispy strips of salmon skin until light and crunchy. Break out the sushi making kit and get to rolling some salmon skin sushi rolls that give bacon a run for its money!
Know of some offal that we just have to try? Let us know in the comment section.
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