Baked Mackerel Stuffed with Fried Onion

Name: Oven-Baked Mackerel Stuffed with Fried Onion Recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Mackerel 1; Onion 1-2; Olive oil 2-3 tbsp; Butter 50 g; Breadcrumbs 2 tbsp (15 g); Prepared table mustard 1 tsp (5 g); Lemon 1 tsp juice and a few slices; Salt, ground black pepper to taste

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60 mins

Mackerel baked in the oven with onion, butter and a breadcrumb coating is an incredibly tasty fish dish. If anyone asks me now how to cook delicious mackerel, I will answer: I know how to cook the most delicious mackerel baked in the oven.

We only fell in love with mackerel about 10 years ago. I always thought this fish was low quality and awkward to cook. I confess, the reason was its rather sharp smell. But as the experts say, you have to learn how to cook mackerel. We brought back our first experience of excellent mackerel from the Balkans. Mackerel grilled on a rack is a superb dish that takes minimal effort and skill.

I was surprised to learn that mackerel, pike-perch and perch belong to the same order, the perch-like fishes. Mackerel usually reaches 30-40 cm in length, although there are specimens over half a meter, and the beautiful streamlined body of the fish looks like a spindle. They write that the body of mackerel is covered with fine scales, though they are practically invisible. The fish is silvery on the belly and blue-green on the back, with curved black stripes. The stripes make a beautiful camouflage on the back. Mackerel is one of the most valuable ocean catch fish. The flesh is fairly fatty, and the fats are very healthy. It has plenty of vitamins and very few bones. That last fact is, as a rule, decisive when choosing fish to cook. For me, at least.

It is believed that mackerel flesh becomes dry when cooked. That is partly true. But once you try, there are many ways of cooking that make the fish very juicy and tender. For example, it is enough to form a crust on the outside at the start of frying, which holds the juices of the fish inside and keeps them from running out. Once you learn this, mackerel is easy to cook at home.

We especially like baking fish with dry heat. The simplest way is prepared fish and the dry heat of burning coals. Or a home grill pan. A home oven is also a great option for cooking mackerel in foil or baked mackerel.

One of our favorite home recipes for tasty mackerel is grilled mackerel and stuffed mackerel. It is a surprisingly simple and quick way to cook it.

Not so long ago we learned to cook baked fish, mackerel in the oven, an exceptionally tasty dish. As it turned out, it is not much harder and is also very good. The mackerel is stuffed with onion and baked in the oven. The onion, fried to a golden color, gives the fish a slightly sweet taste, with minimal spices and a beautiful crispy breadcrumb crust.

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Stuffed Mackerel with Tomatoes, Onion and Potatoes

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Ingredients

1 serving

Mackerel 1
Onion 1-2
Olive oil 2-3 tbsp
Butter 50 g
Breadcrumbs 2 tbsp (15 g)
Prepared table mustard 1 tsp (5 g)
Lemon 1 tsp juice and a few slices
Salt, ground black pepper to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Preparing the fish

Mackerel in the oven is made from fresh-frozen fish. The irony is that it is very hard to judge its quality before thawing (in the store). So buy fish only from a place you trust, like all food.
Thaw the fish the day before: in the evening, move it from the freezer to the refrigerator. It will thaw perfectly and will not even leak. Do not thaw it in a microwave, even though it surely has a special quick-defrost mode. Do not do it in water either.
Rinse the mackerel under cold running water and scrape it lightly with a knife, since some fine scales may be left on the fish.
Without cutting off the head, slit the belly from the gill covers all the way to the tip of the tail in one long cut. Remove the anal fin, the gills and all the innards, and carefully peel off the dark membrane lining the whole belly cavity. Rinse the fish.
Using scissors and a sharp knife, remove the backbone and all the rib bones, trying not to damage the skin on the back. You should end up with a fish opened like a book, like a double fillet joined by the skin along the back.
Lightly salt and pepper the fish inside and sprinkle with a little lemon juice, literally 1 tsp at most.

Fried onion

While you are preparing the fish, make the fried onion. Baked mackerel is especially good with onion.
Peel a large onion and dice it finely.
Fry the diced onion in olive oil over medium heat until golden and lightly browned. There is no need to add any spices to the onion, since fried onion is sweet and tasty on its own.
By the way, if you make twice as much fried onion, the second half makes a fantastic sandwich: fried onion on fresh bread. A favorite childhood treat. But that is another story…

Stuffing and breading

Spread the fried onion over the inside of the prepared fish and distribute it along the whole length of the fish.
Fold the fish so that it looks like a whole fish again. You get something like mackerel stuffed with onion. To keep the fish from opening up while baking, you can pin the edges with a couple of toothpicks.
Place the onion-stuffed fish on a large plate. For a piquant taste, brush the top of the mackerel with a little prepared table mustard (1 tsp, or even less).
Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the mustard in a thick layer, as much as the mustard-coated surface can hold.
A few words about the breading. It is probably best not to use breadcrumbs of unknown origin. Almost certainly they will be of poor quality, made from a mix of stale baked goods of unclear provenance. For home cooking we periodically buy a fresh, tasty baguette, dry it in the refrigerator (I am not joking, try it: a “no frost” refrigerator dries not only bread but anything), grate the dry baguette on a regular grater, and then sift it. The breadcrumbs come out fragrant and fresh, and they look great on finished dishes.
Transfer the fish to a clay baking dish (or any other dish suitable for the oven). So that the fish does not stick to the dish while cooking, I always put a few thin slices of lemon underneath it.
Arrange slices of real butter on top of the breadcrumbs. Note: real butter!

Baking and serving

Put the dish with the mackerel into an oven preheated to 220°C and bake for 30 mins. It may need a little more time, since all ovens are different. But remember that breadcrumbs tend to burn, so watch the process closely. Although I am sure the crumbs will not burn in half an hour, only begin to change color. In fact, it helps during cooking to spoon the melted butter that collects on the baking dish over the breading.
Transfer the finished mackerel to a large plate. Pour over the melted butter left on the baking dish. Serve a few lemon slices with the mackerel.
Boiled potatoes, or coarsely cut tomato and mozzarella, make a great side dish. You can also make a “Caprese” salad if you have all the ingredients.
Baked mackerel is served either hot or slightly cooled, but not cold, or the butter will set. The ideal is warm mackerel.

Calories and macros

1255 kcal

Serving ≈ 370 g

Protein47 g15% of kcal
Fat108 g78% of kcal
Carbs22 g7% of kcal

100 g343 kcalProtein 12.8 gFat 29.5 gCarbs 6 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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