Wednesday 11 March 2015

Salt Grilled Mackerel With Onion and Carrot Salad


It was Valentine's Day (this is a stale post) and all I could think of was what to eat for lunch (how unromantic!). I know I have many things in the freezer. Though I have no idea what some of them are (hee..hee..).
Then I remembered Kimmy's Pan Fried Salmon with Tasty Onion Salad. I know I have a piece of salmon somewhere, but I couldn't find it. My freezer is like the Bermuda Triangle. Things go missing in there.

Never mind. I found a packet of frozen Norwegian Blue Mackerel. It has been in the freezer since last year. I tried to look for the expiry date but I couldn't locate it. What the heck. So I defrosted the fish.


But the thought of pan frying made me very tired. I am not good at frying fish and thinking of the oil splattering everywhere and the fish sticking to the wok, ah! Forget it. Then I remembered Wendy's Saba Shio@Salt Grilled Mackerel. That's it! Grill instead of fry. Perfecto.


It's not too difficult. Just oil and salt the mackerel and grill at 200C. While that's happening, I can make the tasty salad. I didn't have coriander so I used "daun kesum" (laksa leaves) instead. And I decided to use fish sauce instead of salt.


The fish took about 20-25 minutes to crisp up. At the 15 minute mark I could hear sizzling and mini explosions coming from the oven. However, my fish dish not brown as beautifully as Wendy's. But it was good enough for me.


The Onion and Carrot Salad is pretty much like what my mum likes to do except that this dressing contains sweet chili sauce and plum sauce (mum uses sugar). It's tangy, sweet and salty combination coupled with the aromatic "daun kesum" really made this salad pop. It goes so well with fried or grilled fish. In fact it is great eaten with "keropok" (fish crackers).



So that was my Valentine's Day lunch. Simple but good. And if I can find my salmon, I would cook and serve it the same way.









Salt Grilled Mackerel
Recipe source : Table For Two.....or More

Ingredients :
- Mackerel
- Salt 
- Oil

Method :
1. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil.
2. Place a wire rack on top of the tray.
3. Rub mackerel with some oil and place in skin side up on the wire rack.
4. Sprinkle some salt on the mackerel.
5. Grill at 200C in the oven until the skin looks golden brown.

Onion and Carrot Salad
Recipe source : Adapted from Cooking Pleasure

Ingredients :
- 1 Carrot, shredded
- 1 Yellow onion, finely sliced
- Some "daun kesum" finely shredded
- 2 tbsp Thai chilli sauce
- 2 tbsp plum sauce
- Juice from 2 limes (limau nipis)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- some toasted sesame seeds to garnish

Method :
1. To make the salad dressing, mix Thai chili sauce, plum sauce, lime juice and fish sauce. Taste and adjust. It should be sweet, sour and salty.
2. Put shredded carrots, onions and "daun kesum" into a mixing bowl. Add salad dressing and toss to mix. 
3. Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.

42 comments:

  1. Morning Phong Hong, I love love love savoury posts.. I like fried fish, but I am too lazy to clean the kitchen afterwards.. I don't have a grill, so I always bake it in the oven.. But I find fried fish more delisious la, haha.. Fried fish with lots of oil and soy sauce, and fried garlic on top, yummeehhh, I can eat 10 bolws of rice with just the fish oil leh, no joke.. Your onion & apple salad topping is very refreshing.. I want to try it too, but I want to use red onions, try try see how..

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    1. Louiz, nowadays I have more savoury posts because got less time to bake liao. I agree with you lah. Fried fish taste better. And yah, I also love the fish oil hee..hee...

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  2. HI, the onion and carrot salad looks good but i don't have plum sauce. since i hardly cook, i don't think i want to go get a bottle... so qtn is, can i just omit the plum sauce? will it affect the taste of the salad or is there any subsitute?

    thks
    octopusmum

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    1. Hi octopusmum! Of course you can omit the plum sauce :) You can substitute with sugar or honey. But if the chilli sauce is sweet enough, then it won't be necessary.

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    2. thanks much! will definitely try this soon:)

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  3. I think I would love it pan-fried but I've never tried this frozen imported mackerel, just our local tenggiri.

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    1. The frozen mackerel is quite good and convenient. I prefer the fish pan fried too but it's more work than grilling.

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  4. Your mackerel looks just like those grilled saba from Japanese restaurants! Must look for this frozen imported mackerel the next time I'm in the supermarket.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, you must try the frozen mackerel. It's pretty good and convenient to have in the freezer.

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  5. oooh.. saba shioyaki!! i love this very much!! indeed, this is one of the things that i often will order when i go to a Japanese restaurant.. the Japanese goes with a a dollop of grated radish, but yours is kind of fusion, i would say the carrot and onion salad with lime is somehow Thai to me.. and the plum sauce kind of remind me of "yee sang" especially with the julienned carrot, hehehe.. so you have this Thai-Chinese-Japanese fusion salt grilled mackerel, you gotta patent this Phong Hong!! :D

    hmmm, you did not show the flesh inside.. probably already very hungry when you were taking tons of photos of the dish and once satisfied, you can't wait to "dissect" the fish and all gone down into your stomach in a gluttony!!! hehehehe.. :p

    i think i like saba probably because of the flesh, it's those chunky types that i prefer (if you would like to compare, i don't like those pomfret types of fish), so you know i love ikan tenggiri the most (correct me if i'm wrong, i'm very bad with the names of fish, those that they sell in wet market and cut horizontally into pieces?? then there's just one piece of bone in the center).. and yeah, i think salmon would also be nice done this way, and of course salmon steak would be my preference, i am too lazy with fish bones especially those fine ones.. :p

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    1. This saba shioyaki is my partner's favourite lah. That's what he orders most of the time. But now my kitchen pun boleh buat hah..hah... Oh, I see that you prefer fish that the flesh is not so smooth. But for me, I like both. The one that I don't like is Ikan Tongkol. The flesh is hard and dryish. I refuse to eat that one hee..hee... And yes, I also like the ikan tenggiri just like the one you described!

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  6. Hi Phong Hong,

    The least is you celebrated Valentine's Day... Me? Let's don't talk about it... psst

    Romantic or not, it looks yummy!

    Zoe

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    1. Hi Zoe! Well, I didn't exactly celebrate Valentines day hee..hee...

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  7. I just had this yesterday, but not i cooked, eat outside, but didn't take picture..

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  8. Wow Phong Hong, you managed to make a frozen fish into a dish which is so beautiful and appetising.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Veronica! Frozen fish is so convenient :)

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  9. I took cooked at home on VD but steak since hubby is a meat guy. I like this type of grilled fish especially eat it with soy sauce, shallot, tomato and lime juice dipping sauce. Yum!!

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    1. Hi Gertrude! The dipping sauce that you described sounds like something I would love too. Will try that when I next grill or fry fish :)

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  10. Salad is great to be eaten with keropok? WTF is that? You mean like those keropok lekor, right? I cannot imagine this combi!

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    Replies
    1. Not keropok lekor lah. The other type of keropok which is crunchy. Believe me, it is good!

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  11. Da fish.....eat with pulut and nyor muda ...how? boleh?

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    1. With pulut sure nice. Not sure about nyor muda but since nyor muda is sedap, then maybe can also lah. You eaten this combination before?

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    2. always have pulut with nyor muda rite....pulut panggang, nyor n ikang panggang ...dekat Kolam tu

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  12. Love it! Love it! Love it!

    Especially interested to try the salad recipe. :)

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    1. Lina, the salad is good. Sangat menyelerakan!

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  13. Sounds very tasty and looks very yummy...I like grilled fish, especially the salad.

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  14. Your grilled fish looks stunning with the sauce. Grilling is a much better way than frying and like you said, all the splattering which makes the kitchen greasy and 'smelly'!

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    Replies
    1. Cheah, that's why I love grilling. Though I have to clean the oven hah,,hah,.

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  15. woah....you really can cook! Like the mackerel !!

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    1. Can cook.....normal easy cooking OK lah. Not those fancy stuff :)

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  16. Korean also serve this type of grill fish

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    1. Yes, ah? So far I don't see this in the Korean menu. Maybe I missed it because I usually focus on the beef or pork.

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  17. You always know how to make me hungry :)

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    1. hah..hah... go eat something, Cathleen!

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  18. Yummy!Not only on Valentine's Day but I don't mind to eat it everyday, lol!

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    1. Ann, it's good for any day of the week! I am going to buy some more to keep in my freezer hee..hee...

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  19. I love to eat mackerel so needless to say I love the dish you churned out! Must be super tasty. My mother always buy this frozen Norwegian Blue Mackerel, she says it is of good quality.

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    1. Hi Mun! Your mum is right. This frozen mackerel is of good quality. You won't be disappointed.

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