Mackerel, in my view, is a totally underused fish. Delicious, full of healthy fishy oils and vitamins and sustainable, as well as being an utterly beautiful fish aesthetically. Its scales shine like spilled petrol and when grilled take on a stunning blackened crisp hue. YUM. Its flavour marries well with full on, strong flavours like mustard or horseradish. This recipe is a great quick-and-easy one that, minus the filleting (get your fishmonger to do it :D), takes all of 5 minutes to whip up. Give it a go.
Recipe
Ingredients (serves 2):
2 fresh mackerel (scaled, filleted and deboned by your local fishmonger.)
NB- If you can’t get that done then: descale your fish with a fish descaler, scraping it along the fish until all the scales are gone. If you don’t have one, use the back of a knife, being careful not to slice into the flesh – run it backwards against the scales and flick them off into a sink. take your mackerel and lay them on their side on a chopping board. Slice a shallow cut down the belly from just below the head to the tail, reach in with your hand, grab the guts carefully and pull them out of the fish, being careful not to burst them. Throw the guts away. Take a sharp and flexible knife and run it down the spine of the fish from head to tail. Insert the end of the knife at the head end along the spine and carefully run it down the fish, following the spine bones with your knife and slicing the flesh slowly away from it. Use scraping motions along the rib bones to ease the fillet away from the fish. Try to get all the flesh and to remove the fillet in one smooth piece. Repeat with the other side. Put your trust in your sharp knife and in the body of the fish – it sounds bizarre but the bone structure of the fish should guide your knife. Throw away the head, spine and tail.
Dijon Mustard
salt and pepper
sunflower oil
young spinach leaves
olive oil
white wine vinegar
Method:
1. Score your mackerel: cut shallow diagonal slices into the skin side of the fish parallel to each other, about 1 cm apart.
2. Season with salt and pepper. Take a good tablespoon of dijon mustard and slather it onto each fillet, skin side. Rub it in.
3. Heat a frying pan with some vegetable oil in until smoking hot. Lay the mackerel, skin side down, in the pan away from you (lay it away from you; it stops it flicking hot oil at you and burning you). Press it down briefly to stop it puffing up and curling when in first contact with the hot pan.
4. Fry in the pan for about 3 minutes, skin side down, moving around to stop it sticking but not turning it. The skin should be golden and crispy. After that turn it and fry on the flesh side for about 30 seconds, no more. Remove from the pan and rest while you make the salad.
5. For the salad: in a small glass or jam jar place a good glug of olive oil, a heaped teaspoon of dijon, another good glug of white wine vinegar and salt and pepper. Whisk or shake until combined. Stir into the young spinach leaves.
6. Plate and serve immediately.
Ingredients (serves 2):
2 fresh mackerel (scaled, filleted and deboned by your local fishmonger.)
NB- If you can’t get that done then: descale your fish with a fish descaler, scraping it along the fish until all the scales are gone. If you don’t have one, use the back of a knife, being careful not to slice into the flesh – run it backwards against the scales and flick them off into a sink. take your mackerel and lay them on their side on a chopping board. Slice a shallow cut down the belly from just below the head to the tail, reach in with your hand, grab the guts carefully and pull them out of the fish, being careful not to burst them. Throw the guts away. Take a sharp and flexible knife and run it down the spine of the fish from head to tail. Insert the end of the knife at the head end along the spine and carefully run it down the fish, following the spine bones with your knife and slicing the flesh slowly away from it. Use scraping motions along the rib bones to ease the fillet away from the fish. Try to get all the flesh and to remove the fillet in one smooth piece. Repeat with the other side. Put your trust in your sharp knife and in the body of the fish – it sounds bizarre but the bone structure of the fish should guide your knife. Throw away the head, spine and tail.
Dijon Mustard
salt and pepper
sunflower oil
young spinach leaves
olive oil
white wine vinegar
Method:
1. Score your mackerel: cut shallow diagonal slices into the skin side of the fish parallel to each other, about 1 cm apart.
2. Season with salt and pepper. Take a good tablespoon of dijon mustard and slather it onto each fillet, skin side. Rub it in.
3. Heat a frying pan with some vegetable oil in until smoking hot. Lay the mackerel, skin side down, in the pan away from you (lay it away from you; it stops it flicking hot oil at you and burning you). Press it down briefly to stop it puffing up and curling when in first contact with the hot pan.
4. Fry in the pan for about 3 minutes, skin side down, moving around to stop it sticking but not turning it. The skin should be golden and crispy. After that turn it and fry on the flesh side for about 30 seconds, no more. Remove from the pan and rest while you make the salad.
5. For the salad: in a small glass or jam jar place a good glug of olive oil, a heaped teaspoon of dijon, another good glug of white wine vinegar and salt and pepper. Whisk or shake until combined. Stir into the young spinach leaves.
6. Plate and serve immediately.
step 1: fillet and score
Step 2: smear with dijon and season
step 3: saute saute saute, skin side down then flip at the very end
