Post by davey on Nov 13, 2008 16:34:08 GMT
If you want a simple, light, tasty and altogether different way to eat your mackerel, then you have to try this!
There are a whole herd of variations to the dish, but essentially it’s a kind of salsa with the addition of fish. Raw fish.
It may sound a bit iffy at first, but believe me when I tell you it’s not quite how it first seems. Normally, I would agree that eating of raw mackerel should only be done by seagulls, other mackerel, and fishermen who will do anything to win a bet - but not this time.
Now, although you don’t actually cook the mackerel, technically you don’t actually eat it raw, either. Allow me to explain by sharing this gem of a recipe.
Ingredients:
½ lb of fresh mackerel fillets (roughly 3 or 4)
½ a red onion
1 red or yellow bell pepper
1 fresh chilli (only use an amount within your own personal pain threshold)
1 clove of garlic
A good handful of fresh coriander
2 limes
2 Tablespoons of orange juice (from a carton is fine)
½ Tablespoon of good olive oil
A good pinch of salt (rock salt is best, but table salt will do)
Method:
1. Remove the skin from your mackerel fillets: Place them skin side down, flat on a chopping board. Whilst firmly holding the tail end of the skin, ease the knife blade in gently between the upward facing flesh and the skin in contact with the board. With a gentle sawing motion, work your knife further up the fillet until you can lay the side of the blade flat on the board so it effectively holds the skin against the board and the flesh rests on the upper side. Then carry on cutting up toward the head of the fillet ensuring you keep the blade horizontal and paring as close to the skin as possible.
2. With the skin now off, remove the remaining small bones that run along the lateral line of the fish. Do this by cutting the fillet lengthways either side of the lateral line. The strip of bones can then be removed in one go.
3. Chop the boneless fillet into bite sized chunks about the size of the tip of your little finger.
4. Finely dice the red onion
5. Finely dice the pepper
6. Finely dice the chilli (seeds removed)
7. Finely dice or mash the garlic
8. Place the onion, garlic, pepper, chilli and mackerel chunks into a bowl.
9. Squeeze in the juice of both limes
10. Add the orange juice
11. Mix it all up together ensuring the fish has been well coated by the juice.
12. Cover the bowl with cling film and stick it in the fridge for 4 hours*, return once or twice to stir it up.
*During this time, the mackerel will ‘cook’ in the citric acid from the juices. If you leave it more than 4 hours don’t worry, that’s just the minimum time necessary for the juice to work its magic.
Just before you plan to eat it, stir in the remaining ingredients:-
Chopped coriander
½ Tablespoon of good olive oil
Salt to taste
There are a whole herd of variations to the dish, but essentially it’s a kind of salsa with the addition of fish. Raw fish.
It may sound a bit iffy at first, but believe me when I tell you it’s not quite how it first seems. Normally, I would agree that eating of raw mackerel should only be done by seagulls, other mackerel, and fishermen who will do anything to win a bet - but not this time.
Now, although you don’t actually cook the mackerel, technically you don’t actually eat it raw, either. Allow me to explain by sharing this gem of a recipe.
Ingredients:
½ lb of fresh mackerel fillets (roughly 3 or 4)
½ a red onion
1 red or yellow bell pepper
1 fresh chilli (only use an amount within your own personal pain threshold)
1 clove of garlic
A good handful of fresh coriander
2 limes
2 Tablespoons of orange juice (from a carton is fine)
½ Tablespoon of good olive oil
A good pinch of salt (rock salt is best, but table salt will do)
Method:
1. Remove the skin from your mackerel fillets: Place them skin side down, flat on a chopping board. Whilst firmly holding the tail end of the skin, ease the knife blade in gently between the upward facing flesh and the skin in contact with the board. With a gentle sawing motion, work your knife further up the fillet until you can lay the side of the blade flat on the board so it effectively holds the skin against the board and the flesh rests on the upper side. Then carry on cutting up toward the head of the fillet ensuring you keep the blade horizontal and paring as close to the skin as possible.
2. With the skin now off, remove the remaining small bones that run along the lateral line of the fish. Do this by cutting the fillet lengthways either side of the lateral line. The strip of bones can then be removed in one go.
3. Chop the boneless fillet into bite sized chunks about the size of the tip of your little finger.
4. Finely dice the red onion
5. Finely dice the pepper
6. Finely dice the chilli (seeds removed)
7. Finely dice or mash the garlic
8. Place the onion, garlic, pepper, chilli and mackerel chunks into a bowl.
9. Squeeze in the juice of both limes
10. Add the orange juice
11. Mix it all up together ensuring the fish has been well coated by the juice.
12. Cover the bowl with cling film and stick it in the fridge for 4 hours*, return once or twice to stir it up.
*During this time, the mackerel will ‘cook’ in the citric acid from the juices. If you leave it more than 4 hours don’t worry, that’s just the minimum time necessary for the juice to work its magic.
Just before you plan to eat it, stir in the remaining ingredients:-
Chopped coriander
½ Tablespoon of good olive oil
Salt to taste
