Mackerel recipe

Fresh mackerel is such a versatile fish to cook with: its rich and oily flesh can take all sorts of strong flavours, from ginger and garlic to curry spices. Here it is simply grilled with a good dollop of Thai red curry paste to liven up the rich flesh and turn a simple fish into a sumptuous feast.

This mackerel recipe makes a nutritious as well as delicious supper recipe. Oily fish is one of the things we should eat regularly for its omega-3 fatty acids and B vitamins. Served with a fresh salad a grilled mackerel gives you an incredibly healthy supper that tastes great.

Grilled Mackerel recipe with Thai spices

Ingredients for four
4 fresh mackerel (weighing about 300g / 10oz each)
2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
2 tablespoons coconut milk
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper

For the salad
1 cucumber
100g/ 3oz cherry tomatoes
2 sprigs mint
a few drops Thai fish sauce
a squeeze lime juice
1 lime

Rinse the fish under the cold tap then pat it dry. Make several diagonal slashes in the skin of the fish on each side.

In a bowl mix together the curry paste, sugar, salt and pepper and coconut milk. Spread the resulting paste over one side of each fish.

Grill the fish for about 5 minutes and then turn them, coat the other side with the rest of the curry paste mixture and grill for another 8-10 minutes until the skin is crackling and the fish cooked.

While the fish is cooking make the salad. Halve the tomatoes and slice the cucumbers. Mix together the lime juice fish sauce and mint and toss with the cucumber and tomato.

Serve the mackerel with a lime wedge and a serving of salad.

Note

Oily fish like mackerel should be eaten when really fresh to be enjoyed at their best. Avoid buying any fish that look dull or floppy. A fresh mackerel has a sparkling rainbow sheen to its skin and firm flesh.

Tempted by the idea of fresh fish, but it’s too late for the fishmonger to be open? Why not try the fresh fish dishes at Loch Fyne restaurant in Nottingham.