Although I consider myself a fairly adventurous eater, I've avoided trying mackerel. Described as an oily, strong tasting fish I always passed it up. Yesterday, I went to the farmer's market and got on the long line to buy fish. I was about to ask for the usual but changed my mind and bought mackerel fillets for half the price of most everything else. I thought of ginger, garlic and lime as good foils for the fish and found the perfect recipe on Epicurious.com. I served steamed quinoa and sauteed shallots and asparagus alongside the mackerel and enjoyed the bold flavor.
4 8 oz. mackerel fillets
2 tb. minced, peeled, fresh ginger
2 tb. minced garlic
2 tb. fresh lime juice
1 tb. vegetable oil
11/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. turmeric
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves (optional)
Place fillets, skin side down, in a lightly oiled large, shallow baking pan. In a small bowl, stir together ginger, garlic, lime juice, oil, chili powder, turmeric, salt and pepper. Rub the mixture onto the mackerel and marinate for 10 minutes.
Preheat the broiler. Broil fish 5-6 inches from the heat without turning until the fillets are cooked through and lightly browned (7-8 minutes). Top with cilantro, if using.
Notes: I made the same amount of topping for only 1 lb. of fish and would do that again. I also doubled the amount of chili powder. My fillets were very small so the cooking time was even shorter.
