On Crisping Skin

I love the texture and flavor of perfectly crisped fish skin, and there’s a key step in preparation that ensures proper crisping: getting as much moisture out of the skin before cooking as possible. Skin will not crisp, obviously, if there’s water in it. Skin that is too moist will take a long time to crisp, and you will overcook your fish.

The way we prepare the fish is to take the blade of a knife and drag it over the skin, pressing down gently but firmly to force the water to the surface, then pulling the knife back over the skin to squeegee off the water. Repeat this pressing and scraping until you’ve gotten as much water out of the fish skin as possible. This will allow you to achieve crisp fish skin without overcooking the flesh.