# best use of fish heads



## lobby (Jun 17, 2015)

We go through a lot of whole salmon at our restaurant and I took home some fish heads. What is the best way to make use of these things? Stock is the obvious answer, but what else?


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## chinacats (Jun 17, 2015)

Cheeks


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## schanop (Jun 17, 2015)

Grill it, simmered with sweet soy and dashi Japanese way, curry fish head malaysian way, and there are a lot more yummy recipes out there.


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## echerub (Jun 17, 2015)

Cut 'em in half, sprinkle some salt and pepper, then broil for 5-6 minutes. Good meat in the cheeks, top of the head (lots there!), and if you've got everything ahead of the front fins, the shoulder girdle.


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## cheflarge (Jun 17, 2015)

lus1: :goodpost: :cool2:


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## daveb (Jun 17, 2015)

Halved. Salt grilled from the collar up. Make it a special. The Japanese name for dish eludes me right now. Koma?


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## oldcookie (Jun 17, 2015)

Salt grilled salmon head is called Sake Kabuto Shioyaki, I believe. If it is only the collar, then it would be Sake Kama Shioyaki.


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## daveb (Jun 17, 2015)

Is sake (the fish) pronounced the same as sake (the drink)


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## lobby (Jun 17, 2015)

oldcookie said:


> Salt grilled salmon head is called Sake Kabuto Shioyaki, I believe. If it is only the collar, then it would be Sake Kama Shioyaki.



Looks like this will be dinner tonight! Sounds tasty you guys!

Using the heads from these beauties. Ivory king salmon.


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## echerub (Jun 17, 2015)

daveb said:


> Is sake (the fish) pronounced the same as sake (the drink)



My class instructor a while back pronounced the salmon as "sha-kay". Dunno if that's correct or just the way he differentiated between the drink versus the fish!


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## oldcookie (Jun 17, 2015)

daveb said:


> Is sake (the fish) pronounced the same as sake (the drink)



No Japanese expert here, I took two classes in Japanese years ago and pretty much given everything I learned back to the teacher. I now only remember food names as they appear on menus.  

I think in general, they are pronounced the same with some tonal variance. But Japanese generally refer to what we know as Sake(drink) as Nihon-shu(Japanese wine), since Sake is a broad term.


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## oldcookie (Jun 17, 2015)

Reddit comes to the rescue: http://www.reddit.com/r/sushi/comments/2d1yrm/pronunciationetymology_question_sake_salmon_in/


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## panda (Jun 17, 2015)

Put em on spikes front yard, make the eyes red.


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## rami_m (Jun 17, 2015)

schanop said:


> Grill it, simmered with sweet soy and dashi Japanese way, curry fish head malaysian way, and there are a lot more yummy recipes out there.



Seconded. I might go and get me some salmon heads just to do that.


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## Lucretia (Jun 18, 2015)

[video=youtube;OcXA_pkfLso]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcXA_pkfLso[/video]


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## steelcity (Jun 18, 2015)

Put them in a crab trap, catch crab, eat crab.


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## boomchakabowwow (Jun 18, 2015)

i grill salmon head twice a month. my wife loves them.

my fish guys sells them for $2 lbs and they can be pretty gigantic. look for clear eyes and sniff the gills. you should smell nothing  nothing scary.

he splits the heads for me and cleans it. i used to marinate in soy, Mirin (or Sake), ginger, green onion. grill it over hardwood logs and cheap ass briquettes. super delicious once my taiwanese wife showed me how to eat it.

now, i just salt (it takes a surprising amount of salt..lots!) and pepper..same grill fire. super clean and good.


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## drawman623 (Jun 18, 2015)

steelcity said:


> Put them in a crab trap, catch crab, eat crab.



+1
Lobster bait


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## Dardeau (Jun 18, 2015)

Not running some part as a verbal special is definitely hurting your protein cost. If you hypothetically paid $150 bucks for a fish and sold half a head for $25 each your fish now costs $100. 

At a hypothetical 20 portion yield your cost went from $7.50 on the plate to $5 on the plate. Do that once a week for a year and give yourself a raise. Or pay a repair bill.


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## pkjames (Jun 18, 2015)

funny while the western cuisine don't have much use of a fish head, it's considered the some of the best stuff. In Guangdong of China, when you have a steam fish at the restaurant, the waiter will portion the head first and give it to the vip guest.


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## echerub (Jun 18, 2015)

I usually have no competition at the table for the head of a steamed fish, even when amongst an all-chinese group  I gotta say I'm totally happy with that! If nobody else wants it, that's more goodness for me!

It does pain me to see fish heads - especially really meaty heads like salmon heads - go to waste.


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## boomchakabowwow (Jun 18, 2015)

it is really good. i love cooking them for my wife. and she loves me for it. hahah..

jus sayin.


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## boomchakabowwow (Jun 18, 2015)

my Stepdad (RIP) made the best salmon head Congee. it was rich, warm, rich..perfect blend of salmon flavor and the texture of the soft rice porridge. simply and amazing. 

the recipe went with him. SUCKS!! my wife would be amazed. oh well. i'll get the recipe on the other side.


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## oldcookie (Jun 18, 2015)

echerub said:


> It does pain me to see fish heads - especially really meaty heads like salmon heads - go to waste.



Yeah so many uses for it. Yaji in NYC makes a great ramen broth with fish heads, one of the best meal I had last time I was there. Gotta love the mottainai philosophy. Fish head and tofu soup is a good way to use fish head the Chinese way too.

Speaking of heads going to waste, most people leave the heads of roasted squabs to be thrown away but that is the best part!! The brain is like deep fried foie gras... I always grab them and munch on them while everyone stares.


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## lobby (Jun 19, 2015)

Made sake kabuto shioyaki. Holllly crap this was delicious.


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## MyScarGo (Jun 19, 2015)

I use em to catch Dungenuss Crab. ( west coast Oregon) 
The heads are the best because the crabs can not strip the meat off of them too fast.
The inner cavity of the fish head holds enough meat and the oils last a long time for a good soak in a crap pot.

My last catch with my friend was 39 keepers of 5 3/4 " 
GOOOOD 

Legal is 12 per person with 2 limit in possession ( oregon only)


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## boomchakabowwow (Jun 19, 2015)

that dish at my japanese restaurants is damn expensive. i got drunk with the sushi chef once and he showed me his sake marinade. haha.. that dude could drink!!

my wife was not pleased. until he showed me his quick recipe. inner circle secrets!!


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## kuromaku (Jun 21, 2015)

How do you guys split the heads? I had a couple of ~1.5 lb heads today and split them with a gyuto, but had trouble getting them to split evenly. Different knife, or use a cleaver? Saw?


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## Dardeau (Jun 21, 2015)

I use a deba for small heads. Big ones I just cut the collars and cheeks off. 

I put the tip of the knife, spine towards the top of the head and evenly split the jaw. Then I pull the two halves apart and use the heel of the knife to split the top of the skull from the inside. There are a few YouTube videos to help.


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## pkjames (Jun 21, 2015)

deba for small to medium heads, a bone chopper for big ones.

My friend use to hack a 10kg+ blue fin tuna head at my place! and the takayuki 210 deba was conveniently destroyed...


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## rami_m (Jun 21, 2015)

pkjames said:


> deba for small to medium heads, a bone chopper for big ones.
> 
> My friend use to hack a 10kg+ blue fin tuna head at my place! and the takayuki 210 deba was conveniently destroyed...



Thanks for the heads up. Was planning to use a shig deba for that. That would have been a bad idea.


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