Hot-smoked mackerel

Summer

Hot smoking your own mackerel fillets makes the pre-packed, shop-bought versions pale into realms less interesting (although they themselves can sometimes be good). Eating just-cooked fillets straight from the smoker is a true pleasure. When they are warm, moist and smoky, they are extraordinary, and anyone who appreciates how good fresh mackerel can be should add this to their armoury of cooking techniques. I’ve made hot smokers out of biscuit tins, saucepans, deep roasting trays and even the old enamel bread tins you can sometimes find at car boots or charity shops. These are particularly good, as you can get a couple of racks inside, one above the other. As long as your chosen vessel is in no way flammable, and has a lid and a solid base, it can be customized for the job. Use hardwood shavings or chips and avoid resinous or sappy woods. As a general rule, any tree that produces fruit or nuts for us to eat lends itself to smoking. If you know a joiner, or there is a joinery workshop in your area, get down and see them. They usually have an excess of hardwood shavings they can’t give away.

Serves 6

Ingredients

300g (10½oz) fine sea salt
6 fresh mackerel fillets, skin on
coarsely cracked black pepper

Method

To start off the process you need to lightly salt the fillets.

Take a large plastic tray and scatter it all over with a fine layer of sea salt. Lay the mackerel fillets skin-side down over the salt. Scatter another layer of salt on top, making sure all the fish gets some salt. Repeat this process if you have more fish to use – just layer them up.

Leave the fillets to salt for 15–20 minutes, then gently wash off the salt under a cold running tap. Pat the fillets dry thoroughly with kitchen paper or a clean tea towel, then sprinkle the fish with some coarsely cracked black pepper.

Set up your hot smoker. (It’s well worth practising with it before you actually use it for real.) Place the smoker over your chosen heat source, add the wood shavings or chips and bring it up to heat. Lay the fish on the rack and pop on the lid. Smoke the fish over a medium heat for 8–10 minutes, or until just cooked through – the flesh should flake from the skin.

Serve the smoked fish simply, with buttered slices of bread, drizzled with a squeeze of lemon juice, and a spoonful of horseradish on the side. Alternatively, use them as in the recipe 'Runner beans with hot-smoked mackerel, horseradish & tarragon'.

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