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Home » Fish » Crispy Fish Skin Chips

Crispy Fish Skin Chips

By Hank Shaw on October 21, 2013, Updated April 24, 2021 - 31 Comments

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If you’ve ever heard of pork rinds, known in Mexican cuisine as chicharrones, you know. I mean, really. Crispy, light as air, dusted with salt and whatever other flavors you have in mind. Vaguely porky and oddly ungreasy. Properly made, they are so addictive they really ought to be illegal.

You can do the same thing with fish skin, ladies and gentlemen. And it is every bit as good. Similar to pork rinds, fish skin chips also have an oh-so-slight briny thing going on. You know it’s fish, but it is not fishy in a bad way.

Crispy fish skin chips
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

I’d vaguely heard of fish skin chips before, but never really quite knew how to make them. Then I cooked in a big Sacramento food festival called “Have an Offal Day” — yes, we all cooked nasty bits — and at this event Sacramento’s greatest sushi chef, Billy Ngo of Kru, made sturgeon skin chicharrones; there are sturgeon farms around our area, so we use sturgeon a lot here.

Billy told me how to make the chicharrones, and I was immediately obsessed. I made them for a fundraising dinner for the California Food Literacy Center and they were a hit. But then it occurred to me: Sturgeon has a thick, largely scaleless skin, and besides, not many people have access to it.

So I began working on other fish skins to see if it would work.

It does. Oh yes, folks. It does.

I am happy to report that I’ve now made chips from the skins of a huge variety of fish, from sturgeon to seabass, tripletail to porgies to walleyes. Having done this, I am pretty sure you can make fish skin chips from any skin you can slice off a fillet, meaning that ultra-thin skin like that on a mackerel might not work.

Let me walk you through the process.

Start by scaling your fish if they have scales; sturgeon, eels and sharks don’t, so you are good to go there. Scale when the fish is whole, by the way. It’s a pain to scale fish once you’ve filleted them.

Remove the skin from the meat of the fillet. You will notice that you still have some meat and fat attached to the skin. That needs to go. You also need to tenderize the skins of thick-skinned fish, like sturgeon, sharks and fish like salmon and triggerfish. You do this by boiling in salty water; the salt helps season the skins.

Here’s what I’ve found with certain skins:

  • Sturgeon and leopard shark: Boil for about 3 to 5 minutes.
  • Salmon I’d boil for 1 or 2 minutes, but you can scrape the skin even without cooking.
  • Most bass-like fish, i.e., walleyes, rockfish, bass and perch you will only need to boil for a minute or two. They are tender already. (Here is a recipe with walleye skin chips.)

Now you need to carefully remove all the meat and fat from the skins. Gently lift the skins out of the boiling water and lay them meat side up on a cutting board. Now, using a butter knife, carefully lift and remove all the meat and fat. This is fairly tricky, and if you have oven-mitt hands you will tear the skin. Take your time until you get the hang of it.

Dried fish skins, ready to be fried
Photo by Hank Shaw

Once you have all the meat removed, you need to dry the skins. I do this in a dehydrator at 120°F until the skin dries, which isn’t too long — about 2 to 4 hours depending on the species of fish. I’ve also greased a baking sheet and laid the skins down (meat side up) and dried them in an oven set to 170°F. You will need to flip the skins at least once if you do this option.

When the skins are dried you can save them in the freezer indefinitely.

Frying fish skin chips is easy. Heat about 1 inch of high smoke-point oil — I prefer rice bran or grapeseed oil, but canola or other vegetable oil works, too — to between 350°F and 360°F. Get your seasonings nearby, as you will have only seconds to season before the skins’ surface dries. Salt is a must, but I’ve used herbes de Provence, smoked paprika and even lemon pepper.

Tripletail fish skin chips in a bowl
Photo by Hank Shaw

Drop a couple skins into the hot oil and watch the magic: They will puff up immediately in an amazingly miraculous way. They will be ready in less than a minute. Watch for the sizzling to die down dramatically. Move them to paper towels with a slotted spoon and season immediately. Once fried, they will stay crispy for a few hours, depending on the humidity.

All I can say if you are on the fence about fish skin chips is try them. You will never look at the skin on fish in the same way again. Trust me.

A pretty fish skin chip
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

 

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Filed Under: Appetizers and Snacks, Culinary Experiments, Featured, Fish, How-To (DIY stuff), Recipe

Avatar for Hank Shaw

Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet's largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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Comments

  1. Avatar for SteveSteve says

    May 23, 2019 at 4:07 pm

    Hi Hank,

    What is the best way to cook a big batch of these and maintain their crispiness over a week? Any storage technique you might recommend?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      May 23, 2019 at 4:42 pm

      Steve: You can’t. They only stay crispy a few hours.

      Reply
  2. Avatar for jessayinjessayin' says

    September 23, 2018 at 7:20 pm

    They are in an oven if you use that option instead of a dehydrator…

    Reply
  3. Avatar for AprilApril says

    August 25, 2018 at 10:58 am

    How long do i need to have them in the oven for?

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      August 25, 2018 at 11:04 am

      April: Huh? They are never in an oven.

      Reply
  4. Avatar for Aian TaborAian Tabor says

    June 11, 2018 at 10:58 am

    do I need to dehydrate the skin before frying it? i won’t have time to do so

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      June 11, 2018 at 1:24 pm

      Aian: Yes, you do.

      Reply
  5. Avatar for LindaLinda says

    February 21, 2018 at 7:14 pm

    Had salmon chicharones in a fancy restaurant the other night and loved them..now I need to get some fresh fish to try my own. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  6. Avatar for SarahSarah says

    May 9, 2015 at 6:14 am

    Oops!ase these in two toaster last night, turned the heat off, and then forgot to move them to the fridge. Perfectly crispy but they were left out for about 12 hours. Safe to eat or need to chuck?

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      May 9, 2015 at 9:28 am

      Sarah: Not sure, actually. If they were perfectly dry and crispy, I bet they’d be OK. But it’s just a guess.

      Reply
  7. Avatar for ChristineLuzChristineLuz says

    April 8, 2015 at 3:52 am

    can this be done on cream dory skin?

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      April 10, 2015 at 10:37 am

      Christine: No idea what that fish is, sorry.

      Reply
  8. Avatar for NinaNina says

    February 6, 2015 at 9:03 am

    I have been asking local grocery store for skin of salmon. Amazingly, people pay for their salmon and then ask for the skin to be taken off. They don’t even cook the salmon with the skin on (then toss it) to keep it moister! They have been giving me the skin for free. I put in oven at 170 for about 4 hours. No boiling to remove lovely salmon. Then I drop in deep fryer for about 4 mins. No batter. Then I sprinkle with chili salt. I brought the fish guy some. He said it was better than pork chicharon…and he’s Mexican!

    Reply
  9. Avatar for Eve imagineEve imagine says

    August 22, 2014 at 10:13 pm

    I live up the street from Kru and when I’m not eating these, I’m dreaming about and obsessively craving them. Just had a massive side of them for happy hour today and I can’t stop thinking about them. I was googling fried fish skin and just landed here…

    Reply
  10. Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

    October 27, 2013 at 6:48 am

    John: Not sure, but it should. Never caught a bonnet head. But if the skins aren’t tender after 5 minutes, boil longer. 😉

    Reply
  11. Avatar for JohnJohn says

    October 27, 2013 at 6:16 am

    So would this work with bonethead shark from the east coast? We catch lots of them each year and the meat is great. I just have a hard time believing that sandpaper could be made edible by 5 minutes of boiling (but if anyone could do it, it would be you, Hank).

    Reply
  12. Avatar for MikeMike says

    October 24, 2013 at 7:02 am

    Better eat ’em while you can… Probably not however. Be very afraid!

    https://www.activistpost.com/2013/10/28-signs-that-west-coast-is-being.html

    Reply
  13. Avatar for Jeff @ Cheese-burger.netJeff @ Cheese-burger.net says

    October 23, 2013 at 6:14 am

    Fish chicharrons are an excellent idea and they look very delicious. I can’t wait to try making some.

    Reply
  14. Avatar for clutchngrabclutchngrab says

    October 21, 2013 at 11:43 pm

    Wow – what a perfect backing for rich stuff like quail egg and salmon roe with maybe some spicy green. Damn I’m creating that.

    Reply
  15. Avatar for GiGi Eats CelebritiesGiGi Eats Celebrities says

    October 21, 2013 at 9:29 pm

    I eat broiled salmon skin every SINGLE NIGHT. I cannot get enough. It’s so flipping AMAZING! No words. No words can describe the deliciousness!

    Reply
  16. Avatar for Ricardo RodríguezRicardo Rodríguez says

    October 21, 2013 at 8:18 pm

    Great article!

    Here fish chicharrones are made usually from catán,aka. pejelagarto, known to you as gars. Some are made from carps too.

    Reply
  17. Avatar for RalphRalph says

    October 21, 2013 at 3:51 pm

    I cook my wild salmon on the grill and always have been removing the skin, cooking it thoroughly and giving them as treats to our dogs (and boy do they love it); well no more of that, they can go catch their own fish!

    Reply
  18. Avatar for Denise DelgadoDenise Delgado says

    October 21, 2013 at 3:49 pm

    Love them all! They have great salmon skin hand rolls at both Blue Nami and Mikuni. I favor the Blue. Like your salmon egg header. Thx!

    Reply
  19. Avatar for James RancourtJames Rancourt says

    October 21, 2013 at 12:38 pm

    Hey Hank,

    You never cease to amaze me. 🙂

    Now, I’ve been fishing for over 60 years and love the fried skin and tails of pan-fried trout and I also love chicharrons; just never realized the concept as being transferable. Thank you enlightening me on this, and for your many great and delicious recipes.

    Hopefully, we can get together next year and do some trout fishing on the Deerfield River. After which, we can swap and demonstrate recipes and techniques for preparing and enjoying the Rainbows, Browns and, very probably, Tiger Trout. The Tigers are fun to catch as they fight like the dickens, but are not as tasty as the Rainbows. However, with your expertise, I’m sure you can turn them into ambrosia. 😀

    Jim

    Reply
  20. Avatar for JenniferJennifer says

    October 21, 2013 at 12:12 pm

    Any reason this wouldn’t work with catfish skins? I live near the Red River (of the North) and we’ve got great channel-cat fishing up here.

    Reply
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Hi, my name is Hank Shaw. I am a James Beard Award-winning author and chef and I focus all my energies on wild foods: Foraging, fishing, hunting. I write cookbooks as well as this website, and do a podcast, too. If it’s wild game, fish, or edible wild plants and mushrooms, you’ll find it here. Hope you enjoy the site!

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