Grilled Salmon Collar Recipe - How to Cook Salmon Collar (2024)

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Every few years California gets a great salmon season, and when that happens we eat a lot of salmon. On the boats I fish, I see lots of people getting their fish filleted and happily walking away with slabs o’salmon.

They’re happy, but I can’t help but feel sorry for them: They just left the best part of the salmon with the deckhand: the salmon collar.

I’ve been a deckhand before, and I know that what the clients leave behind is often the best part of the fish. In no case is this more stark than with salmon collars.

What is a fish collar? It is the part of the fish behind the head and gills that extends to where you sliced off the fillet. It includes the pectoral fins. If you’ve ever eaten hamachi kama at a sushi restaurant, that’s the collar from a yellowtail jack.

Why bother with it? Well, it is insanely rich, meaty and just plain fun to eat. Lots of rich, fatty meat nestles in pockets around the fins, and then you get some regular meat at the top of the collar that you missed with the fillet knife. In all honesty, I’d rather eat collars than the regular fillets.

Only bother with collars from fish about 5 pounds or larger; anything smaller is not worth the trouble.

You remove the collar after you’ve filleted the fish. Do this with a knife and/or a pair of kitchen shears. The best way is to fillet your salmon from right behind the head, taking the collar with you. Then, you slice off the collar from just behind the pectoral fin.

Salmon collar is made for grilling. I cook them in no other way, although you could broil them if you don’t have access to a grill.

I’ve cooked them barbecue style, with indirect heat, as well as straight over the coals. I actually prefer a little char (oooh, fish pun!) that I get with the direct heating method. Indirect heat limits the charring, but the collars can stick to the grill more that way. Your choice.

A marinade is a good idea. Why? Because the collar isn’t very thick, so a marinade can penetrate quickly, giving you a boost of flavor. What I provide below is a pretty traditional hamachi kama marinade, but let yourself run free. Your mind is your only limitation here.

Dipping sauce? Traditional, but not vital. I’ve eaten collars both ways. Ponzu, a citrus-soy blend, is a great idea for salmon, because it’s so rich. You might want a sauce with a little fat in it if you were to grill a collar from a lean fish, such as a lingcod or striped bass.