The market · Fish and seafood · Northern and Central Europe, East Asia
Mackerel
An oily, full-flavoured fish with a blue-green striped back — excellent grilled, cured or smoked.
briny · oceanic · rich
What to do with it
Classics built on it
MalaysianAssam laksaThick rice noodles in a sour, spicy broth of flaked mackerel and tamarind, heaped with pineapple, cucumber, onion, mint and torch ginger flower, with sweet prawn paste on top.No one here has made it yetMalaysianNasi kerabuRice dyed blue with butterfly pea flowers, eaten with finely shredded herbs, kerisik, fish or chicken, budu and sambal.No one here has made it yetTeochewTeochew fish ballsWhite, bouncy balls of fish paste beaten by hand, cooked in simmering water and served in clear soup or with noodles.No one here has made it yetFujianFuzhou fish ballsSmooth, springy balls of fish paste with a juicy pork filling, served in a light broth.No one here has made it yetGoanGoan fish curryFish simmered in a coconut sauce ground with red chillies and coriander seed, soured with kokum or tamarind — eaten with red rice every day in Goa.No one here has made it yetSouth IndianMeen curryFish cooked in a clay pot in a fiery red sauce soured with kudampuli, finished with coconut oil and curry leaves.No one here has made it yetNigerianBoleRipe plantain, and often yam, roasted over coals until charred, served with grilled fish and a hot palm-oil pepper sauce.No one here has made it yetBretonCotriadeThe Breton fishermen's stew: several kinds of fish simmered with potatoes and onions, the broth poured over bread and the fish eaten after with vinaigrette.No one here has made it yetJamaicanRundownSalted or fresh mackerel simmered in coconut milk cooked down until it thickens, with tomato, onion, thyme and scotch bonnet.No one here has made it yet Kinds
- Fresh
- It must be very fresh; it deteriorates fast.
- Hot-smoked
- Fillets, often peppered; for pâté.
- Shime saba
- Salted, then marinated in vinegar, in Japan.
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Fishmongers: stiff, shiny, bright-eyed.
- Worth knowing
- Pair it with something sharp — gooseberry, rhubarb, horseradish, pickles — to cut the oil.