Smoked Mackerel

Was gifted six fresh bled and iced mackerel the other day and since we already had dinner plans I decided to smoke them rather than the usual grilling, (Sharky had mentioned eating smoked mackerel as a kid). 

I eyeballed the brine, but guessing 2 cups soy, 2 cups water, 1 cup sugar.  Brined the de-headed and gutted macks for 2 hours, then laid em out on a pan in the fridge to develop the pellicle for a few hours, then smoked for only about 2 hours, til they were cooked thru and golden brown from the smoke. 

Since Mackerel are notorious for going mushy fast I processed them a lot more quickly then trout or salmon, (which I brine overnight).

I like it better than smoked salmon!

Next time maybe I'll try the salting method like these guys:





 

I was lucky enough to catch a bunch of them on the way home from Albion at Doran beach. Cleaned and fried them up 5 min out of the water. Even my girls said it was the best fish they ever had. Clean white meat and lots of it! They were feeding on sardines. I fried some sardines too. Like french fries...

I've been wanting to try this for a while.
seems every time I have come across mackerel I'm not ready with ice and such.

The "River Cottage Fish Book" has a lot of recipes for mackerel that look great, but they are all power-boat based so they have easier access to ice chests and don't worry about bleeding the fish over the side.

thanks for keeping me interested Eric!

BTW, I'm currently "hard salting" some lingcod for a recipe called Brandade (salt fish, butter, and garlic mashed potatoes). I'm just now done with the 28 day hard salt and will make the dish in the next week or so.

I'm just now done with the 28 day hard salt and will make the dish in the next week or so.

nearly 40 days wait for a meal?  That ish better taste biblical 

Thx for the recipe/suggestion Eric.  I think i'll go out for a quickie next week before/after work and see if some greenbacks or spanish or pacifics around.

I'm just now done with the 28 day hard salt and will make the dish in the next week or so.

nearly 40 days wait for a meal?  That ish better taste biblical 

Thx for the recipe/suggestion Eric.  I think i'll go out for a quickie next week before/after work and see if some greenbacks or spanish or pacifics around.

ha! its more for the preserving of it and the change of texture. I dunno, its an over-the-pond thing. I just did a bit of it as an experiment. We'll see.

Looks good. I smoked some bonito earlier this year.  Caught from a power boat, bled and iced imeadiatly. They came out really good, despite what some will tell you about bonito as food.

I'm interested in this salted ling too.

I feel a mack attack coming on.

I think there's a video on YouTube that shows how to filet them and they come out with no bones.  My wife uses the technique now, and it's awesome to be able to eat macks without the annoying needles.

Gonna hit doran tomorrow for some red\rock crabs n bringing sabiki for some Macks if they are still around

Gonna hit doran tomorrow for some red\rock crabs n bringing sabiki for some Macks if they are still around

They were just past a sardine school. Off beach by the whale statues board walk area. Watch for diving birds. Hope you get some. Cast as far out as you can just past breakers. or on fringes of a bait ball. Scoup up those Dines too and fry them whole! Better then french fries! Be sure and thumb scrape the gut cavity to remove the black fatty tissues (reduces the fishy taste, mellows the flavor) Good luck!!!

Gonna hit doran tomorrow for some red\rock crabs n bringing sabiki for some Macks if they are still around

They were just past a sardine school. Off beach by the whale statues board walk area. Watch for diving birds. Hope you get some. Cast as far out as you can just past breakers. or on fringes of a bait ball. Scoup up those Dines too and fry them whole! Better then french fries! Be sure and thumb scrape the gut cavity to remove the black fatty tissues (reduces the fishy taste, mellows the flavor) Good luck!!!

I dinno, Ron...  I have read about different European cultures who eat sardines so last time my brother took me out yellow tail fishing in SoCal I kept some of the sardines from his bait well to cook up for dinner. They were 5-6" long and lively when I put them on ice.  The main dish was sand dabs cause the yellow tail were playing hooky that day.  Anyway, I tossed  up the sardines in flour and started frying them in oil and the stench was bad and the oil in the pan increased in volume from the sardines.  Because of the smell I was the only one to try them and they were....um...less than delictable.  So,  was it a different type of sardine,  the wrong way of cooking them, different experiences... ?

Oh man... We used smoke Spanish Macks all the time back east. They were delicious. Now I might need to head out and grab some out here.

  Love Macks,,,    Try filleting them, bake or fry, then make a spread with some onions, cilantro, etc.    Like amberjack spread.   
   Wife was not too keen on eating "bait" until she tasted it.   Then it was " go back out tomorrow and get some more"

So,  was it a different type of sardine,  the wrong way of cooking them, different experiences... ?

Never fried them, but grilled sardines are the bomb.  You'll pay $12 for two at Sam's Chowder House.