350 calories per person
Cooking and preparation: 40 minutes
Level of difficulty: **
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 fillets of mackerel, skin left on, each about 200g
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Sauce
50 g shallot, finely chopped
1 tsp julienne strips of peeled fresh ginger
1 tsp julienne strips of peeled garlic
15g pimientos del piquillo, cut into ½ cm dice
1 tbsp dry white wine
3 tbsp Xeres vinegar or other sherry vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp concentrated tomato paste
3 tbsp Mushroom Vinaigrette
Rougail Leeks
500g leeks, trimmed to give about 2/3 white and 1/3 green parts
1 tsp olive oil
15g fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
40g mango, cut into ½ cm dice
10g lemon zest, blanched and refreshed 3 times, then cut into 2mm dice
2 tbsp finely chopped or snipped fresh coriander
2 tbsp dry white wine
Pinch of ground chilli pepper
Garnish
Few julienne strips of lemon zest
Few leaves of coriander
Method
Run you finger gently over the fillets of mackerel and, if you feel any remaining small bones, remove them with tweezers. Set aside the fillets in the refridgerator until you are ready to cook them.
Sauce
For the sauce, put the shallot, ginger, garlic and diced pimientos del piquillo – the aromatics – in a bowl. In a saucepan, stir together the white wine, sherry vinegar, soy sauce and the concentrated tomato paste. Bring this liquid to the boil, maintaining a brisk simmer for 30 seconds, then add it to the bowl of aromatics. Cover with clingfilm and set aside.
Rougail leeks
Cut the leeks into rounds about ½ cm thick. Blanch them in simmering salted water then drain them, refresh in cold water and drain them again in a small sieve that you can use to reheat them.
Heat the teaspoon of olive oil in a saucepan over a gentle heat and sweat the ginger for a few minutes without colouring it. Add the leeks, the mango, the lemon zest and the chopped coriander. Mix gently, then stir in the wine and chilli pepper. Taste, and adjust the seasoning and keep the mixture warm, preferably in a bain-marie.
Mackerel
You can cook the mackerel either over direct heat, using a heavy sauté pan with a ribbed base – in which case make sure this is hot – or you can grill it. If you are going to use the grill, preheat it to a high heat.
The mackerel is cooked quickly and on one side only to ensure the flesh remains moist, so make sure all the other elements are ready: heat the sauce through, adding the Mushroom Vinaigrette to complete it; keep this hot. Heat the leek mixture through and have ready 4 warm serving plates.
To serve
Season the mackerel and lightly brush the skin side with olive oil. Arrange the fillets with their skin towards the heat. Cook rapidly, for as little as 12 seconds or so, depending on how strong the heat is.
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