Spicy Fried Skate
By Sid Khullar • Dec 22nd, 2008 • Category: Recipes
I was in my favorite food haunt on Saturday when I saw a large skate on display. About 2 kilos in weight, this was a fairly large specimen as far as fish on the slab go. I’ve seen these before and could never muster the level of adventurousness required to actually buy and cook one. Not so today – I actually bought the thing. Surprisingly, the fish mongers had no idea how to cook or clean it. I guess it must be an usual thing for them – something that gets delivered once in a while by mistake.
Anyhow, brought it home and took a while finding books that had something to say about the fish. I did want to wake up the next morning you see… and not puffed, bloated or incontinent either. This fish has a slightly ammoniacal odour, that goes away somewhat on washing and completely on subsequent cooking.
As you can see in the picture, the central band of skin is a different texture than the rest, which is a bit slimy, as is usual for fish. The central band however, is leather and very tough.
To Cut: The edible portions of the fish are (a) The wings (b) The cheeks and (c) The liver. You’ll need to cut all around the leathery portion to get at the edible flesh. The rest can be used to make stock if you’re up to it, after removing the leathery part. And oh, you could also skip the tail and attached organs. You’ll end up with two long pieces of wing that are totally edible and contain only one layer of tightly packed bones. Safe eating all the way!
To Clean: Make a vertical cut under the fish to access the pocket containing the organs like the liver, stomach etc. Pop in and pull out everything. I didn’t keep the liver as I’m not a big fan of liver, skate or not.
I’ve kept one wing to make the classic way, i.e. with black butter. One wing I marinated with salt, chilli powder, ginger, garlic and turmeric and deep fried. It takes a little longer to fry than normal fish. When done, it looks quite ordinary, till you eat it. The skin is quite delicious and you can make it crispy if you like. Below the skin, as in the picture, the flesh is quite different from other fish, in that it is a little firmer, arranged in vertical strips and quite tightly packed. The reason (I think) the flesh is so very good to eat is that we’re actually eating the wings, which comprises most of the fish – and th wings are actually all the muscles, which have a superior texture to the flesh itself – which is in the cheeks.
We ate it with plain, boiled rice and it was quite good!
- Sid
Sid Khullar is a self confessed food addict who likes cooking, writing and photography... and travel, if it gets him closer to a good book and interesting food.
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Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve seen anyone mention this fish. It’s one of my favorites but I can never find it fresh and it seems to lose something after it’s been frozen.
Your recipe sounds so good. I’m going to be craving this for weeks.
@hatchet: Glad you like it. We don’t get it here regularly… once in a while. now onwards of course, I’ll be picking it up without hesitation.
Hi, I have never had this fish, and I am not sure I like the look of it. But your recipe is simple and is sure to taste great.
Hi Shreya: That’s precisely why I never bought it before. Even after cooking it and all, I was looking at it rather suspiciously and hesitated a bit before eating. After I ate it however, I found the delicate pink flesh tasted very good and wasn’t ‘fishy’ at all.
I had to click on this because I was just so curious … wow. And congrats on your bravery!
@Shelley: Thank you.
Have you tried this before?
We don’t get it with the skin on here. I’m glad you tried it and liked it, you know I do, from one of my earlier posts.
@Toni: Yes, I was thinking of you when cooking the skate, and had been looking forward to doing so ever since your post. For some reason, I still can’t call you – your number always comes across as ‘number not in use’ on my mobile. Wanted to call to wish you a very merry Christmas!
I’m glad you were thinking of me, makes an old woman very happy!
My phone supplier is the same as it was when you were here, although it is still maintained by BT who have recently made some changes to the services that they supply. Have you tried resubmitting my number into your phone? That has worked for me in the past. I’m not at work this week so if you want to try my mobile I’ll be able to answer…
I hope you are all well in Noida?
It goes without saying that you are rather brave. Slicing into that fish would give us a bit of the tremors. But it does look quite tasty once cooked.
@Duo Dishes: Thanks. I don’t do that sort of thing much too.
There is a market near us that always has skate wings, I’ll have to get some to try this soon. It sounds great!
I love it…I would so take on a skate if I could get a hold of a whole fresh one here in my area…I love skate and cook it when I see it in the fresh fish market, love your site! Thanks for the friends request!
@Chef E: Thank you!
I just realized I have been here before, because of the Skate post…I like your stuff and thanks for making it over to mine, I will bookmark yours, since we are on a similar wave length! Where are you from? You look of Indian heritage? I am a personal chef for two Indian families here in Princeton, and I love that cuisine, so you can understand my love for spicy! and the fact i am from Texas were Tex-Mex and chilies rock!
It was interesting. You seem very knowledgeable in your field.