Mackerel Steaks

As long as I have been cooking fish, mackerel steaks have been my fish of choice. They represent excellent value for money and have always been priced relatively cheaply, until oil prices went up and fishing fleets had to pay more for fuel that is.

Still, mackerel steaks are hard to beat, certainly in terms of simplicity of preparation. When you are pondering what to cook for dinner and everything that comes to mind seems like too much work, having mackerel steaks handy is a great thing.

Some people describe mackerel as having a strong flavour. While that may hold true for Atlantic mackerel, the varieties we get in tropical waters do not merit that description. Sure, they are more strongly flavoured than say, seabass, but not so overwhelming that you need to think of masking smell and taste with herbs and spices.

Some of My Favourite Mackerel Cooking Styles.

The very easiest is to simply rub salt on the mackerel steaks then pan fry in about 5mm / ¼in. of oil. Served with slices of lemon on the side, it is quick and easy.

Rub the steaks with fish curry powder and fry as above, and you have Indian style fried fish.

Fry the mackerel steaks as above until almost done, and set aside. Then fry a spice paste of ground chillies, garlic, shallots, ginger and a dash of tamarind water and sugar, until fragrant. Put in the mackerel steaks and fry until the steaks are done, coating with the spice paste as you do so. There you have a Malay style fried fish sambal.

Rub with Cajun spices and fry with just a little oil over high heat and you have Cajun style blackened fish. You better have a really efficient extractor though, or your neighbours will be calling the fire brigade.

Or just broil them with seasoning and a light coating of olive oil. Everything else can go on the side.

And to drive the purists’ nuts, use them in fish-head curry. That’s right, fish-head curry, and you might finally wind up with fish to eat rather than just having delicious gravy while you look at the fish in the eye.

Broiled Mackerel Steaks With Mustard Dressing.

The mustard dressing I suggest is one that is fairly mild and will suit the palate of those who would not like the flavour if you were to use only Dijon mustard.

Still, if you have any concerns in this regard, by all means broil the mackerel steaks with only olive oil and seasoning, and serve the dressing on the side. You will however lose the visual appeal that this dressing gives you, especially with the contrasting red of the chopped tomatoes on top.

You do not have to worry about overwhelming the fish with mustard dressing, as it can take it. On the other hand, this dressing would indeed be too much for seabass.

For the tomato topping, I always use honey tomatoes. You can substitute with any good quality tomatoes of your choice. I favour honey tomatoes because good tomatoes are hard to get here in Bangkok, and the imported ones are hideously expensive. Honey tomatoes are inexpensive, sweet and have great texture (never mealy) and are hard to beat for a topping like this.

And please note that I suggest placing the mackerel steaks in a baking dish rather than directly on the grill rack because you will be taking the fish out from the broiler twice during cooking– once to turn and apply the mustard dressing, and again to put on the tomato topping. The baking dish makes all that handling a breeze.

Serving Suggestions.

I like to enjoy the mustard-mackerel flavour without the distraction of other flavours, so I tend to serve this with mashed potatoes. You could go for a potato salad if you wish.

A simple green salad on the side to round it off, and some English mustard handy for those who want a real kick.

Good meals can come easy.

 

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