Stay Away From Non-Stick Skeletons for Super Crispy Fish Skins
If you are going to serve the fish with the skins, you want it to be crispy and not unappetizing and raw. Your first instinct might be a nonstick skillet, but that won’t give you the best results.
Serious Eats tested non-stick coatings, cast iron and stainless steel against each other. Here are the results:
In the photo above, there are three pieces of perch that I cooked in three different pans at the same temperature and induction range. As you can see, cast iron and stainless steel (left and middle in the photo) gave very similar results; I would say they are roughly equal. The non-stick coating (right) was close, but the skin was not as crisp as the other two.
In addition, non-stick pans can lose their coating over time if used over high heat (for example, frying fish skins).
Using the right skillet is just part of a big process for getting the crispest fish skin, so check out the full Serious Eats guide below.
How to make the crispest fried fish skins “wiki useful Serious food