Mackerel is hardly the most common commercial fish. It is caught from the Barents Sea to the Caribbean islands, and it is found in the cold Baltic and warm Mediterranean seas. This is a fatty, aromatic fish with a peculiar taste. In many national cuisines, there are a large number of recipes for cooking, salting, pickling, smoking and canning mackerel or, otherwise, mackerel.
As a hot dish, mackerel is served baked, stuffed, stewed, in the form of barbecue and, of course, fried. Under the general name of the dish “fried mackerel”, the recipes are offered the most varied, with various additives and ingredients.
Fried mackerel is a fast food dish, besides, fresh, just caught fish is often cooked in its own fat. Mackerel usually comes to us in a frozen form, therefore, first of all, it must be thawed to such an extent that it can be processed. If the fish thaws to softness, this will greatly degrade its taste.
Before you fry the mackerel, you should prepare it.
We gutted the mackerel, cut off the head, fins, tail, hard scales on the sides. Thin skin is easy to remove. We clean the carcass from the costal bones and pull out the ridge. We got two sirloin halves of a carcass. If the fish is small, then these halves can not be cut and cooked whole. Large mackerel should be cut into pieces. It should also be salted (we do it carefully - the mackerel has a slightly brackish meat) and sprinkle with lemon juice. This is the treatment of mackerel when choosing any cooking method.
Fried mackerel, the recipes of which we offer here, is always cooked in vegetable oil.
Mackerel in soy sauce
The simplest and quickest recipe - mackerel in soy sauce, can use an inept cook. Put the prepared fillet in a hot pan, quickly fry on both sides. Mix soy sauce with tomato (1: 2), add sugar and fill the fish in a pan. Close and simmer it in this sauce for no more than five minutes. It is better to serve boiled rice on the side dish .
Mackerel in batter
In batter, fried mackerel, recipes of which are known in many national cuisines, turns out to be especially tender and tasty. It is cooked in deep fat - heated to a temperature of 120-130 degrees fat. In our case, in refined vegetable oil. By its volume should be four times more than the volume of the product (fish in batter).
Small pieces of mackerel are dipped in batter and fried in large quantities of boiling vegetable oil for 5-7 minutes.
We prepare the batter as follows: for 500 grams of fish, beat three eggs, pour them into the flour (one glass) and mix thoroughly. It should turn out the dough is not thicker than sour cream. For the desired consistency, you can add milk. Eggs and flour are the main ingredients of batter, but it can be made more complex: replace milk with beer or ketchup, add grated cheese and greens, batter with white wine is delicious. Fried fish in batter can be served cold as an appetizer.
Fried mackerel, the recipes for which are usually simple, are often intended for everyday dining. And from this, in general, unpretentious, generally available and inexpensive fish, you can cook a "festive" dish.
Delicious mackerel - with tomatoes and cheese
For 600 grams of fish fillet, you will need three eggs, two medium-sized tomatoes, 150 grams of cheese. Half a glass of flour, salt and spices, herbs.
Cut the fillet into large pieces, put a slice of cheese and tomato on each (they should be the same size as the fish pieces). Beat eggs, add spices, add salt. Fold the prepared slices of fillet like a sandwich, so that the cheese and tomatoes are in the middle. Dip the “sandwich” in the egg mixture, then roll in the flour. Fry on both sides for about 10 minutes. Serve hot with greens.