Marinated in a delicious soy-based sauce with a ginger flavour, deep-fried mackerel is packed with flavour. Marinated and Deep-fried Mackerel (Mackerel Tatsuta Age) is a simple dish that is not only a great main dish but also a perfect finger food.
Total time includes the marinating time of 30 minutes.
Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.
- 400g/0.9lb mackerel fillets , bones removed (note 1)
- 3 tbsp corn flour/corn starch
- Cooking oil for deep-frying
- Shredded lettuce leaves
- Sprigs of parsley
- Lemon wedges
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Slice the fillet to 2cm/¾” wide strips at a slight diagonal angle (note 2), without detaching the piece from the rest of the pieces (see the photo in the post).
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Using the side of the knife, lift the sliced pieces together and slide them into a container. I used a shallow baking dish that can fit four fillets without overlapping. (note 3).
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Mix the Marinade ingredients and pour the marinade to the tray ensuring that the marinade covers every piece of fish.
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Place a piece of cling wrap on the fish covering the surface of the fish pieces and press down so that the marinade coats the surface of the fish. Leave it for about 30 minutes in the fridge.
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Heat oil to 170C/338F in a deep-frying pan or a heavy-bottomed pot. The depth of the oil should be about the thickness of the mackerel pieces.
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Pat dry fish pieces with paper towel. Place cornflour in a small bowl.
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Coat several fish pieces with cornflour (note 4), then drop them into the oil. Deep fry for 1-2 minutes until golden brown. Turn it over 2/3 of the way.
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Transfer the fish pieces to a plate lined with a couple of layers of paper towels.
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Repeat Steps 7 and 8 for the rest of the fish pieces.
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Plate the fish pieces with lettuce, a sprig of parsley and a lemon wedge. Serve while hot (note 5).
1. Four fillets made from my two whole mackerel weighed about 400g/0.9lb. Small bones along the back bone also need to be removed.
2. Alternatively, cut the fillet into 3-4cm/1¼-¾" wide strips. As long as they are cut into bite-size pieces, that’s fine.
3. Mackerel flesh is soft and delicate. Picking the pieces up together using a knife prevents them from being damaged.
If you are using fish with firmer flesh such as king fish, you can use a zip lock bag to marinate.
4. It is important to coat the fish with cornflour just before deep frying. The number of fish pieces you can fry at one time depends on the size of the pot. Do not overcrowd the oil with the fish - fry in batches.
5. Mackerel Tatsuta Age is delicious even if it is at room temperature. But nothing beats freshly fried hot Tatsuta Age.
6. Nutrition per serving. It assumes that the vegetable oil absorbed into the fried mackerel is 6% of the weight of the mackerel. Garnish is not included..
serving: 115g calories: 282kcal fat: 20g (31%) saturated fat: 3.7g (19%) trans fat: 0.1g polyunsaturated fat: 4.5g monounsaturated fat: 9.8g cholesterol: 70mg (23%) sodium: 163mg (7%) potassium: 341mg (10%) carbohydrates: 4.8g (2%) dietary fibre: 0.4g (2%) sugar: 0.3g protein: 19g vitamin a: 4% vitamin c: 0.8% calcium: 1% iron: 9.9%