Contributor : Added by Administrator

Tribal Affiliation : Yupik, Alaska

Orgin of Recipe : Offered by Offered by LA Duerr ...who learned this from Denny Hurtado, Skokomish Nation Chairman

Type of Dish : Contemporary & Traditional

Take one salmon head at a time and microwave on HIGH for four to 8 minutes depending on size of salmon head and may take longer for frozen heads.
Remove from microwave.
With a fork lift the salmons cheek gill flap thing, and scoop out the round, opaque, little cheek. Try not to eat it right out of the fish head.
To make a meal of these little succulent cheeks takes self-control or it could take forever. I suppose a whole bunch of salmon heads could be boiled up, and the cheeks extracted all at once, but I only learned it one head at a time, in a microwave.
If the cheeks are not quite done, you will know because it will be challenging to get the cheek out of the gill flap thing.
When a salmon head is really done, it is gooey and easy to take apart.

Note: I had to be bribed to try these. They look remarkably like little cheeks too, but if you think about it, it is a lot like a protein mass like the rest of the fish. And all those darn seals who eat the salmon cheeks out of the gill nets can't be wrong. No kidding--if you taste these, over rice you will never throw another salmon head away again.