Salmon collar - do I just throw it on the grill or ???

[RWCFoodie]

Today at Farmer's Market I bought wild Alaskan "salmon trimmings" that consist of the head, backbone with lots of meat on it and also some fins with lots of meat on them. What I was really interested in was the salmon collar/cheek. Maybe I'm making this more difficult that it needs to be, but I'm looking for some direction on how to proceed...

Should I try doing a sort of Japanese "shio-yaki" thing - salting the head with kosher salt and putting it on the grill or is that overkill? Should I salt the meat on the backbone too?

The fish guy said to just steam the whole thing and pick the meat off but I'm thinking that grilling it would be much tastier.

Any suggestions out there? Thanks in advance...

[Das Ubergeek]

I love salmon collar misoyaki, but shioyaki is better.

[dimsumgirl]

The fish monger with Shogun fish recommends using miso paste and ginger. I have tried that and I think it is tasty. However, nothing beats plain old butter, salt and lots of fresh garlic and grilled collars and fins. Sometimes we have a little leftover and I make a salmon spread out of that. That always goes over big too!

[sweetie]

I agree 100%. Grilling is an excellent way to enjoy salmon head and trimmings.

[ricepad]

Shioyaki is the best way for those parts. Yes, salt the backbone meat, and also remember to salt the fins, too. Once they get nice and crispy, the fins and tail are great!

[RWCFoodie]

That's exactly what I ended up doing - sprinkled generously with kosher salt and onto a nice hot grill! It was delicious and I'm so lucky to have a DH who doesn't think I'm nuts when I present him with things like this!

[pilinut]

Like you, I find it hard to imagine that salmon trimmings can get much better than rinsed, patted dry, sprinkled with kosher salt, and quickly grilled. If you have some fresh thyme, you could add those for a bit of a twist.