Mackerel is a heat-loving flock of pelagic fish of the mackerel family, which has more than 12 genera of fish with numerous species. Mackerel fish is an excellent swimmer, so it can make extensive migrations, is ubiquitous in the Atlantic waters, sometimes reaches the waters of the Barents and White Seas, and also lives along the American coast of the North Atlantic. The maximum size is 65-66 cm, feeds on pelagic crustaceans and small fish.
Mackerel is an unusually tasty and very healthy fish, which is why it is successfully used in cooking. This wonderful fish may well be called exquisite, as it has a lot of useful qualities. Mackerel fish is quite oily, it contains a lot of protein, which is much faster absorbed than, for example, beef protein, as well as trace elements such as sulfur, phosphorus, zinc, potassium, manganese and sodium.
Everyone who has ever tried this wonderful fish, note its great taste, which is exclusively combined with a wide variety of dishes and products. Many restaurants offer mackerel soup , stuffed mackerel, various pastes and rolls with its "participation" on their menus. It is very satisfying and tasty, it is used in the preparation of soups, it is stuffed, fried, baked and used as a filling for pies. Also very tasty is obtained stroganin from mackerel, which is prepared quite simply and quickly. If possible, for these purposes it is best to buy quick-frozen or fresh mackerel.
Mackerel fish soup with barley
Ingredients: one large mackerel, onions, three potatoes, carrots, a tablespoon of pearl barley, 50-70 grams of butter, one tomato or 30 grams of tomato puree, dill, parsley, cloves, peas, salt.
Mackerel soup is very easy to prepare, the combination of pearl barley and fish gives it a special, piquant taste and a rich broth.
Clean the fish, rinse, chop coarsely and send to boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Remove foam as it develops to avoid clouding of the broth. Pull out the finished fish and allow to cool. Remove the skin, separate the fillet from the bones and cut into medium sized pieces. Thoroughly rinse and boil the barley. Strain the fish broth through cheesecloth or sieve to get rid of the seeds. Peel the potatoes, cut into cubes or cubes and send them to boil in the fish broth. In the meantime, peel the onions and carrots, grate the carrots or grind them in a combine, cut the onions into cubes, send them to a frying pan with heated oil and fry them. Add boiled pearl barley and roasted vegetables to the broth, boil for a couple of minutes, salt, add bay leaf, pepper and cloves. After the broth has boiled, put the chopped fish in the pan and cook for a couple more minutes. Mackerel soup is served on the table, sprinkled with finely chopped herbs.
Smoked Mackerel Soup
Ingredients: 400 grams of smoked mackerel, leeks, 2 onions, 30 grams of tomato or 3 tomatoes, parsley root, 2-3 tbsp. tablespoons of butter, one carrot, 500 grams of potato, for the broth 1.5-2.0 liters of water, salt, sour cream, parsley and dill.
Wash leek, dry with a paper towel and cut. Peel onions, wash, cut into rings. Wash the carrots, peel, cut into bars or thin strips. Wash, dry, chop parsley. Then pass the carrots, leeks, onions and parsley in oil for several minutes and put the tomato and 50-70 ml of hot water, mix. Peel, wash, cut potatoes into slices or slices. Boil water, dip the potatoes into it, cook until tender. With smoked mackerel, remove the skin, separate the fillet from the seeds, select small bones. Then add stewed vegetables, prepared pieces of smoked mackerel fillet and chopped greens to the broth with prepared potatoes.
If you did not use tomato paste during cooking, when serving mackerel soup on the table, garnish with tomato slices and be sure to sprinkle with fresh chopped herbs.