Grilled Salmon Collar with Ponzu

The salmon collar is the cut that never makes it to market. Fishermen and their families have always known this secret. That crescent of meat where the head meets the body carries more fat, more flavor, and more character than any pristine fillet. In Seattle's izakayas, you'll find Japanese chefs who learned this truth from the same source: the people who pull fish from the water keep the best parts for themselves.

I first tasted grilled salmon collar at a tiny place under the Alaskan Way Viaduct, long since demolished. The chef was a third-generation fisherman's son from Hokkaido who'd married into a Muckleshoot family. His grandmother salted salmon the Japanese way. His wife's grandmother had been smoking it on cedar for a thousand years. That collar, charred and glistening, represented both traditions meeting on a single plate.

The technique couldn't be simpler. Salt draws moisture from the surface. High heat chars the skin and renders the fat. The ponzu, bright with yuzu or Meyer lemon, provides the counterpoint. This is honest cooking. The kind where you let the ingredient announce itself and get out of the way.

Seek out your salmon collar from a fishmonger who respects the whole fish. During the summer runs, king salmon collars appear briefly at Pike Place Market. Sockeye works beautifully too. Ask for the collar with the pectoral fin still attached. That fin, grilled crisp, is edible. The cartilage softens. Nothing goes to waste.