Those who are not familiar with this representative of the mackerel family are probably wondering what kind of mackerel fish is and how to cook it. A feature of this product is its versatility. Mackerel fillet is ideal for baking, smoking, frying and other methods of heat treatment.
Material Content:
Mackerel - what kind of fish
Individuals of this family reach sizes up to 4.5 meters, while the smallest - only 60-70 centimeters. Mackerel is a predatory fish whose diet includes plankton, anchovies, shrimp, mollusks, juvenile herring and sand eels. This instance lives in sea and ocean waters at a depth of up to 200 meters.
The name of its varieties comes from the place of residence:
- Spanish (striped) mackerel - Mediterranean Sea, Indian and Pacific Ocean;
- Japanese mackerel - waters of China, Japan, Korea;
- Indian (royal) mackerel - the coast of Asia.
This fish is caught in large quantities and is considered a valuable industrial product. Through an impressive abundance of individuals of this species in world waters, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has been given the status of “Least Concerned”.
Taste, calorie content
Mackerel is a nutritious fish with dense white meat. It is rather fat, but at the same time, somewhat harsh, which should be taken into account in the cooking process. The taste of mackerel is often compared with the taste of mackerel. Despite the close biological relationship, these representatives have a significant difference. Mackerel can be called dietary, because it is drier than mackerel.
Like any other marine fish, mackerel is rated as low-calorie. So raw carcass contains about 105-139 kcal, steamed - 134-158 kcal. The discrepancy in the number of calories depends on the variety. So, king mackerel will be less nutritious than Spanish.
Nutritional value varies within such limits:
- proteins: 20-22 g / 100 g of product;
- fats: 3-4 g / 100 g of product;
- ash: 1-2 g / 100 g of product;
- water: 73-75 g / 100 g of product.
What is noteworthy, this individual practically does not include carbohydrates.
5 delicious recipes for making mackerel
To cook mackerel fish, you do not need to have great culinary skills. It is enough to choose it correctly when buying and clearly follow the recipe. An indicator of the quality of this seafood are pink gill and transparent clear eyes. Additionally, you can try to leave a dent in the carcass with your finger. If the meat quickly returned to its former shape - a sign of freshness.
Smoked mackerel at home
A delicious analogue of purchased smoked fish can be prepared at home. Moreover, for this recipe does not require a large number of ingredients, it is enough to have a desire and a smokehouse.
The ratio of products in this case is as follows:
- two kilogram mackerel;
- edible salt - 200 g;
- granulated sugar - 20 g.
First of all, fish should be cleaned and washed. To do this, the head is cut, the belly is cut and all the insides are taken out. Rinse a fresh fish in cold running water at least twice.
Bandage the cleaned carcass with a thick thread and sprinkle abundantly with sugar and salt. In this state, the fish remains for 45 minutes - an hour. After that, wash off the salt, tie the product in the open air and leave for another 1 hour.
Now the mackerel is ready for smoking. To do this, load it into the smokehouse and put on a small fire. After smoke, set 80ºC for 1 hour. Once the carcass has cooled, it can be served on the table, serving with greens and lemon.
Bake in foil in the oven
An equally interesting cooking method is mackerel in the oven. In such conditions, it turns out to be soft, the meat easily lags behind the bone.
To achieve maximum taste you will need:
- two mackerels;
- one onion;
- weak mustard - 1 tbsp. a spoon;
- lemon juice - 3 tsp;
- one pinch of salt;
- one pinch of black pepper.
Cooking begins with cleaning the fish: cut off the head, remove the intestines and rinse thoroughly.
- Next, prepare the marinade. To do this, mix the chopped onion, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Lubricate the fish with the mixture (carcasses can be stuffed with the rest) and leave to marinate in the refrigerator. Pickling time can be from half an hour to half a day.
- Wrap the soaked mackerel in foil and spread on a baking sheet. The baking process takes about 40-50 minutes at 180ºC, but do not forget that any fish or meat should only be put in a preheated oven.
Fish fried with golden brown
Fried mackerel is worth highlighting from a number of more nutritious dishes. Such a delicacy will not leave anyone indifferent. Even in the process of cooking, relatives repeatedly visit the kitchen to find out what is aromatic prepared for dinner.
The list of required products is as follows:
- half kilogram mackerel filet;
- one egg;
- breadcrumbs - 1 teaspoon;
- mayonnaise - 1 tbsp. a spoon;
- margarine - 1 tbsp. a spoon;
- half a lemon;
- greens to taste;
- one pinch of salt.
Peeled and prepared fish can be divided into portions or roasted whole.
Cooking consists of two stages.
- First, lower the carcass into a beaten egg, then into the breadcrumbs and fry on margarine. It is better to make a medium fire so that the dish does not burn out and remains moist inside.
- In the meantime, proceed to the sauce. To do this, mix in a separate bowl mayonnaise, lemon juice, herbs and salt. A few more slices of lemon can be used as decoration.
Mackerel fricassee
Fricasse is an exquisite French dish that can be interpreted as stew. This dish will consist of two components: tender fish stew and sauce.
Complete list of ingredients:
- mackerel - 250-300 g;
- green peas - 50 g;
- one onion;
- one carrot;
- celery root - 20-30 g;
- 50 ml of fish and vegetable broth;
- one teaspoon of flour;
- butter - 20 g;
- a bunch of parsley;
- one pinch of salt;
- one pinch of ground black pepper.
As expected, we remove the insides, heads from the mackerel and wash it clean.
- After cutting the fish into pieces measuring 4x4 centimeters, boil it in salted water for about 5-7 minutes after boiling.
- At the same time, cook vegetables: onions, carrots, celery and peas.
- You don’t need to drain the broths, mix them with flour and melted butter and get a gourmet sauce.
- Ready boiled meat and vegetables, pour the resulting liquid gravy, salt, pepper and decorate with herbs.
Royal Steaks
Fish steaks are prepared on the grill, which allows you to save the calorie content of the dish and bring it as close as possible to the restaurant option.
To prepare this culinary masterpiece you will need:
- one large (royal) mackerel;
- olive oil - 180-200 ml;
- garlic - a pair of cloves;
- a pair of lemons;
- one pinch of ground black pepper;
- one pinch of salt;
- greens for decoration.
We divide the peeled and washed mackerel into how many steaks (about 6-7 servings are obtained from one carcass).
- Lubricate the resulting slices with plenty of chopped garlic, vegetable oil, salt and spice.
- After that, put the fish on the foil, and lemon slices on top of it. The entire surface of the steaks should be covered.
- We prepare the grill and bake mackerel on it until cooked. Depending on the intensity of the fire and the size of the servings, the cooking time ranges from 20-35 minutes.
- The finished dish is served in combination with dry white wine.
As practice shows, mackerel is a worthy unique fish that will become a useful dinner and hearty dinner. Bon Appetit!
