Woodfired Mackerel Escabeche

Woodfired Mackerel Escabeche, here done with red mullet as well, has to be one of our favourite fish dishes and perfect for lunch; the pinky-orange red mullet and the silvery-blue mackerel look fantastic with zingy orange zest, bright green fresh parsley and black olives. The citrussy orange juice and acidic sherry vinegar cut through the rich oily fish flesh and will transport you to a sunny Mediterranean hotspot even if it’s not so sunny at home. We’ve also used the same recipe for bonito and seabass both in Spain where the dish originates and here in Devon.

Woodfired Mackerel Escabeche – Ingredients

Serves 4

2 medium mackerel, cleaned and filleted

2 medium red mullet, cleaned and filleted

2tbsp rice flour mixed with 1tsp ground cumin and ½ tsp smoked paprika

3tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, peeled and very thinly sliced

Juice of 2 oranges (take the zest off the orange first in long strips with a parer if you’re got one or a sharp knife)

1tbsp pitted black olives, roughly chopped

1tbsp sherry vinegar

1tsp cumin seeds, toasted

1tbsp pitted black olives, roughly chopped

1tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

Woodfired Mackerel Escabeche – Oven State etc

Mississippi 2

Door off

Cooking time – approximately 5-6 minutes

Woodfired Mackerel Escabeche – Method

1. Dust the fish fillets with the rice flour/cumin/smoked paprika mixture. Season well with salt and pepper and drizzle over half the oil.
2. Heat up a frying pan in the oven and when it’s hot add the fillets skin side up. Cook until they are just firm and not quite cooked through. Take the fillets out of the pan with a palette knife or fish slice and put them on a serving platter, skin side up to show the pinky/golden skin.
3. Mix the red onion slices with the rest of the oil and put them in the oven in the same pan you cooked the fish in.
4. Put the onions, sherry vinegar orange juice in the same pan and cook for a minute in the hot oven until the onions are just starting to wilt, stirring them round with a wooden spoon now and then to incorporate any of the fish juices. You want to keep them pinky-red though; don’t cook them so long they turn brown. Season with a little salt and pepper.
5. Spoon the onion mixture over the cooked red mullet fillets. Scatter the olives and parsley over the top and allow the fish to cool. Garnish with thin strips of orange zest.
6. Eat the escabeche at room temperature and serve with green salad and good bread or some simply boiled new potatoes.

Woodfired Mackerel Escabeche – alternatives

Use seabass or bonito instead of the mackerel and red mullet

Shred a little lemon zest over the fish as well for some extra zinginess

Check out our Woodfired Fish & Seafood for lots more fab fishy recipes to cook in your woodfired ovens – available as a book and an ebook

 

 

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