Grilled Mackerel with Lemon, Chilli and Thyme

Cheap and healthy mackerel should be enjoying a resurgence with diners, but it does need to be eaten perfectly fresh, otherwise this oil-rich fish can taste strong and fishy. Choose firm, bright-eyed and brightly-coloured specimens. Go to a fishmonger you can trust and ask him to take the head off and gut it for you. It’s worth getting into mackerel not only because it’s cheap but also because it’s super healthy. Health experts recommend eating at least one portion of oily fish a week, and mackerel is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, selenium, and vitamin B12. Oily fish like mackerel spoil much more easily than white fish so it’s best to eat it on the day it is purchased.

Ingredients:

1 medium sized mackerel (gutted and de-headed)

Small pack of fresh thyme

Juice of half a lemon

1 red chilli

1 lime

Quick rice:

1 bag of boil-in-the bag long grain rice

2 tablespoons of chopped onion (about ¼ of a large onion)

2 tablespoons of chopped green pepper

1 teaspoon of finely chopped garlic

2 small slices of ginger, finely chopped

Naturally-brewed soya sauce, shoyu or tamari

Method:

Wash the fish under cold running water, pat dry with kitchen towels and place in a ceramic dish. Make a couple of slashes in the fish with a knife, marinate the fish in the juice of half a lemon, half a sliced red chilli and some chopped fresh thyme. Marinate the fish for at least two hours, preferably all day. Alternatively if you don’t have time to marinate then just baste the fish with the lemon, chilli and thyme while it is under the grill.

Heat the grill to medium/high. Chop the onions, pepper, ginger and garlic. Cook the fish for 15-20 minutes, turning once or twice until the skin is slightly charred and blackened. While the fish is cooking, boil some water in a kettle and put the rice on to cook. It will take 11-12 minutes. Five minutes before the fish and rice are done, heat some oil in a pan and gently saute the ginger, garlic, pepper and onion. Drain the rice well in it’s bag, and tip into the pan with the vegetables. Season with salt, pepper and a shake of shoyu or tamari. Serve the fish with some more lemon, lime and soy to squeeze over at the table.