Hey,
I love mackerel , regularly buy the ready smoked or tinned variety for lunches. Always been tempted to buy the fresh fellas for main meal, just no idea how to handle them!
Any tips welcome
Well you want to choose the ones with bright eyes, Dark red Gills, firm (get the fishmonger to pick it up by the head and have him hold it horizontal) if it only drops a little bit the fresher it is. Don't worry about the colours of the fish, some have a green tint to them, others blue. The fish itself should be very smooth.
Get him to gut it if you want to, this will remove the gills and stomach etc and just leave you with the body and head. I prefer to cook with head and tail on.
A simple way of making the Mackerel a tasty meal is Ginger, Chilli and lime. So simple yet tastes awesome.
Put some Olive oil in bowl, 2 Tablespoons. Mix in 1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped. 1 clove of garlic and a thumb nail amount of fresh ginger both chopped finely. Zest of 2 limes and 2 teaspoons of honey and 1 teaspoon of fish sauce. Adjust the line and honey ratio depending on your taste (Sharp, sweetness) Mix all this together.
Score the fish 5-6 times on both sides not through to the bone though. Grill the fish 5-7 minutes each side depending on size (thick chunky ones take a minute or so longer). The eyes will go white and the fish will char a little. Place on a plate and drizzle the mixture over the fish and leave for a minute of two.
Eat and enjoy.
Fish is possibly the most common food source that people don't eat. All because of what needs to be done or how you have to cook it. A beef steak, Lamb steak etc you cook the same way pretty much, a flat slab of meat. Where as fish, they are all different sizes shapes and things need to be done to them. I always get asked how to cook fish and what has to be done even from the elderly generation who I would have thought knew how to prepare and cook fish.
Anyway. Do you guys want a guide on fish? I can post about what species are what and how to prepare them, cook them etc,
I used to be a butcher too. I left school and went to get a job at a local butchers. Learnt my trade, went on to Dewhursts for 3 years or so then on to Morrsisons in 2000. I was butchering for 11 years and now fishmongering for 7 years. Still at Morrisons.
Pretty clued up on all fish and meat.
