Deep-fried smoked salmon skin

Serves 4-6

(Photographs by Jason Lowe)

It may seem a bit desperate to start deep frying salmon skin, but if you're a smoked salmon lover and buy it unsliced on the side – which is by far the best way – what's the point in throwing away the skins after slicing up all the salmon? These are rather like fishy pork scratchings and you can even rescue the rest of the trimmings like the belly and tail, which can be a bit salty, by chopping them up and simply mixing them with sour cream and chives for an easy, cheap snack.

The skin from 1 side of smoked salmon
Vegetable or corn oil for deep frying

Cut your salmon skin into rough 3-4cm shapes, squares, strips, triangles etc. Preheat about 8cm of oil to 160-180C in a large thick-bottomed saucepan or electric deep-fat fryer. Fry the salmon skin a few pieces at a time, stirring with a slotted spoon, for 3-4 minutes until crisp, then remove and drain on some kitchen paper. Serve as suggested above or just on their own.