2024. 2. 7. 16:14ㆍRecipe
Grilled mackerel is a delicious and healthy dish that is popular in Indonesia. It is made with fresh mackerel fillets that are marinated in a spicy and sweet sauce, then grilled until crispy and tender. The sauce is made with garlic, shallots, chilies, ginger, turmeric, candlenuts, coconut oil, chicken stock powder, pepper, sugar, lime juice, and sweet soy sauce. The sauce adds a lot of flavor and moisture to the fish, making it irresistible. This dish is easy to make and perfect for a family dinner or a special occasion.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of mackerel fillets (you can use other fish as well) - this sauce is enough for 500 g - 1 kg of fish.
- Salt to taste
- 1 lime, juiced (you can substitute with tamarind paste to taste)
- Coconut oil for frying (optional)
Spice paste:
- 3-4 cloves of garlic
- 8 shallots
- 4-6 bird's eye chilies (you can substitute with red curly chilies)
- 8 red curly chilies (adjust to your preference)
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
- Salt to taste
- 1 cm of turmeric, roasted (optional)
- 3 candlenuts, toasted
- 100-150 ml of coconut oil for blending the spice paste - do not add water as it will affect the taste (it is recommended to use a blender)
Additional ingredients for the spice paste:
- ¼ tsp of chicken stock powder
- ¼ tsp of pepper powder
- ½ tsp of sugar
- Lime juice / asam sundai / lime kaffir to taste
- Sweet soy sauce to taste, I use Bango brand (optional) - I use 5-7 tbsp of sweet soy sauce, taste it first, do not pour it all at once, adjust to your taste
How to make:
1. Clean the fish, then rub with salt and lime juice, let it sit for 15 minutes then wash again and drain. Then fry it half-cooked with a non-stick pan / no need to fry (optional)
2. Mix the spice paste with coconut oil along with chicken stock powder + pepper + sugar + sweet soy sauce + lime juice, stir well, taste it, the sweet soy sauce should be noticeable. It is more delicious if the sweet soy sauce is slightly more.
3. After that, coat the fish with the spice paste mixture all over the surface of the fish until evenly distributed. Add some margarine if you like.
4. Let it sit for 30 minutes so that the spices can soak in more
5. Finally, grill the fish until cooked, (while occasionally brushing with the sauce again until cooked). .
*note: you can reduce the chilies if you don't like spicy (but this is not spicy moms, because later you will add sweet soy sauce)
Even if you pound the spices, still add oil, so that it is not too thick and enough for additional brushing when grilling.