Tender, flaky, and delicious salmon is versatile. It can be grilled on wood planks, served raw in sushi and poke bowls, or roasted whole with any spice. We'd call it the sea's MVP.
Depending on how you prepare your salmon, you may eat it with or around the skin. Fish skin makes some people queasy. Flabby, chewy, and unpleasant can result from improper preparation.
Some avoid salmon skin for health or safety reasons, not taste. Mercury, dirty rivers, and filthy hatcheries are risks. Red flags are always there, but should you take them seriously?
All things salmon skin were discussed with Stanford-medicine certified dietician Melissa Pfeister. Next time you make our Tuscan butter salmon, your meal will be nutritious and tasty.
Salmon skin is safe to eat. Pfeister calls it one of the fish's healthiest portions. She adds salmon skin has more omega-3 fatty acids than flesh and a lot of minerals, vitamin B, and vitamin D.
Here, omega-3s are crucial. This vitamin is crucial for cell function and cardiovascular health. The body doesn't generate omega-3 fatty acids, thus eating foods with them is crucial.
"High-fat fish like salmon contain these powerful and essential omega-3s," Pfeister says. "Omega-3s protect against heart disease, lower blood pressure, and improve skin, hair, and nails."