If I said mackerel, what would you say? Fishy? I agree! If you like mackerels, then here’s another recipe to try. Unfortunately, for people like me, despite it’s fishy-ness, this is one of the fishes which is high in Omega 3 fatty-acids and is eco-friendly. So I eat it for it’s health benefits. Not that I’m one of those people who get over-zealous when it comes to being environmentally friendly. If I need to buy something and it has an eco-friendly substitute which is not pricey, then I have no qualms getting the eco one. But I don’t go out of my way to buy only eco-certified products. In the case of the mackerel, it just happens to be a fish which doesn’t require me to go out of the way to be a little kinder to the fast ailing Mother Earth.

But just so you know, it’s one of the fish in the list of seafood which contains high levels of mercury. I suppose that’s why we need to eat food in moderation. My mom’s voice echoes at the back of my head as I wrote the last sentence - “Too much of a good thing is always bad”. What can I say, such wisdom!

Anyway, back to the main topic - how to cook this mackerel so that you don’t get nauseated by its fishy smell and taste? - this is a recipe I found on the net and modified it’s preparation to make it less cumbersome to me.

Ingredients:
1 whole mackerel - cleaned, filleted and cut into serving portions
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp granulated white sugar
pinch of salt
3 tbsp oil (or more depending on the size of your pan)
3 stalks spring onions - cut into 2 inch lengths

Method:

1. Pat dry the fish with a paper towel.
2. Sprinkle salt on the fish and rub it all over the fish - both the skin and flesh side. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, sugar and spring onions.
4. Dip the fish slices one at a time into the soy sauce mixture. Make sure all sides of the fish is coated.
5. Leave the fish aside for 5 minutes.
6. Heat a small flat non-stick pan. Coat the pan with a thin layer of oil.
7. When the oil is hot, quickly dip the fish slices in the remaining sauce and place it skin side on the pan.
8. It will take about 2 -3 minutes to cook. Then flip the fish carefully to cook all the other sides.
9. Remove from the pan and serve hot with rice and sliced lemon. Alternatively, sprinkle a few drops of lemon juice on the fish slices.

Tips:

• Be prepared to have lots of splatter when the fish first touches the pan!
• If you still have a little bit more soy sauce mixture left, sprinkle on the fish when it’s almost ready. It’s too precious to waste!
• Since the fish comes out tender and juicy but without gravy, I’d suggest accompanying this dish with mild curries or vegetables cooked in coconut milk gravy.