Brown Sugar Brined Hot Smoked Mackerel Fillets
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Oh! The joy of hot smoked mackerel! This salty, oily fish totally lends itself to a bit of sweet, and a bit of smoke!
You can either buy this fish whole and fillet it yourself, or most fishmongers will do the filleting for you. But remember Mackrell is a bony fish and may still have some bones left after the fishmonger.
If the bones are big, they should be easy to see, and you can remove after smoking.
This is a very simple recipe that I’ve been using for many years with great results!
Smoked Mackerel is amazing hot or cold.
It can be eaten with a verity of things. Such as Beetroot Salad, Hot Horseradish goes really well too! Chicory is nice.
You can also turn this into a wonderful Smoked Mackerel Pate.
Brown Sugar Brined Hot Smoked Mackerel Fillets
Course: MainCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Pitapprentice8-12
Fillets15
minutes30
minuts2
hours1
hour3
hours45
minutesThis is a very simple recipe that I’ve been using for many years with great results!
Smoked Mackerel is amazing hot or cold.
It can be eaten with a verity of things. Such as Beetroot Salad, Hot Horseradish goes really well too! Chicory is nice.
You can also turn this into a wonderful Smoked Mackerel Pate.
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Ingredients
8-12 8-12 Mackerel Fillets
- FOR THE BRINE:
500 ml 500 Boiling Water
500 ml 500 Crushed Ice and Water
125 g 125 Sea Salt
65 g 65 Soft Light Brown Sugar
1 1 Lemon (juice)
1 1 Bay Leaf
3/4 tsp 3/4 Garlic Powder
3/4 tsp 3/4 Onion Powder
3/4 tsp 3/4 Ground Allspice
1/2 tsp 1/2 White Pepper
- FOR SMOKING:
1 chunk 1 Alder Wood
Directions
- Start by making the brine.
In a medium saucepan add the boiling water along with the rest of the brine ingredients, and bring back to the boil.
Stir the salt and sugar until dissolved. As soon as you reach a boil, remove from the heat and steep for 5 minutes. - Fill a measuring jug up to your mark with crushed ice, then add cold water up to the same mark and add to the brine.
When all the ice has melted check the temperature with a finger, if it’s cool to the touch it’s ready to use, but if it’s warm put it in the fridge for half and hour and test again. - Wash the fillets and place skin side up in a non-metallic container, a Tupperware slightly longer than the fillets is perfect.
When the brine is cool pore over the mackerel and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. - After the Mackerel has brined for 30 minutes, remove from the brine, rinse of the excess and lay out flesh down onto a double layer of kitchen towel and leave for a few moments while you pat the skin side with some more kitchen towel.
- Now lightly oil a wire cooling rack with cooking oil and lay out the fillets skin down into the rack.
Place the rack in the fridge and leave for at least 2 hours to dry and form a pellicle. The better the pellicle, the better the smoke. The Pellicle is a sticky film that forms over the flesh that helps the smoke stick to the fish.
- Light a small fire in the kamado, throw on a small chunk of Alder, set to indirect and slowly bring the temperature up to 70-80°C at the grill.
- Once the kamado is up to temperature you can either place the whole wire rack on the grill or transfer each fillet to the grill separately, remembering to oil first.
- Smoke the mackerel for about 45 minutes to an hour, until you have a nice smokey colour.
Either serve immediately or chill and serve cold later.
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