So all (that I’ve bought from) supermarkets sell their salmon fillets with scales on. Do you descale it before pan frying?
Sainsbury’s; morrisons; tesco are the supermarkets I’ve bought salmon fillets from mainly
Edit: Please stop assuming I’m a dumbass who doesn’t know what scales look like. We have established that YES, SCALES ARE PRESENT, I AM NOT MISTAKING SKIN FOR SCALES BECAUSE I HAVE EYES. They are on the fillets, and if you haven’t noticed them, then feel free to not participate in this post.
As others have commented I suspect that what you’ll have is the salmon with the skin still on; the scales themselves (which are hard reflective plates about 5mm across) should have been removed.
If it’s just the skin I’d cook it with the skin on (adds flavour) and then decide whether to eat it or not once it’s on your plate and you’ve had a chance to taste it. There was a trend in restaurants for a while if crisping up the skin and serving it on top of the fillet; I think those days are behind us now.
If there are actual scales there, I would still cook it with the skin on but leave the skin behind when serving; fish scales in your teeth can be unpleasant.
If you’re keen to try descaling / check if there are scales, you can always run the back of a knife blade across the skin before cooking; if there are scales there you’ll see them - it can get quite messy!
Depending on exactly what you’ve bought it might be worth check for bones too.
Good luck!
The skin is still on, but I’m pretty sure the scales are still on. I take a knife to the back and scrape across and they pop off. I’m not sure they’re quite reflective as much as they are slightly translucent and yeah the mess is exactly why I made this post lol I was sick of having to do it in the sink before cooking each time
