How much to cook mackerel in water in slices and whole: cooking tips and 2 right recipes for cooking fish

Boiled sea fish is a healthy dietary product. It is less calorie than fried or baked, because it is cooked without oil, and part of the fat goes into the broth. But in order to get the maximum benefit from the product, you need to properly prepare it. Today I will tell you how to cook mackerel, whole and cut into slices, as well as give some useful recommendations for cooking.

Cooking tips

To make the boiled fish tasty, and the broth to be rich, take into account several important points:

1. If you bought frozen mackerel, thaw it only naturally, in the refrigerator or at room temperature. The slower the carcass will thaw, the better.
2. When boiling mackerel, there should be little water. It’s enough to cover the carcass. In case you need more broth, add liquid after removing the fish from the pan.
3. If you cook the whole carcass, fill it with cold water and place on the stove. It should be heated simultaneously with the liquid.
4. Dip the fish into hot, ready to boil water.
5. Do not let the broth boil violently, otherwise the mackerel will fall apart. Constantly turn down the fire so that only slight movement is observed on the surface.
6. Salt the fish at the end of cooking, a few minutes before removing from the pan. This will help preserve her taste.
7. If you don’t like the pronounced smell of mackerel, put the peel of pickles in the pan, about 300 g per 1 liter of water. Another option is to pour a couple tablespoons of vinegar into the broth.

In addition, it is worth taking into account which vegetables are combined with sea fish.It doesn't matter if you cook soup or cook mackerel for the second, tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes, broccoli, beets, carrots, cucumbers, eggplant, bell peppers and green peas will be a good addition to it.

How to cook whole mackerel

• Total cooking time: 1 hour.
• Servings Per Container: 4-5.

First, I will tell you how to cook the broth from a whole carcass with the addition of spices. Subsequently, it can be used to make soup, and mackerel served on the second.

Ingredients for 1 carcass:

• water - 2 l;
• onion - 1 pc.;
• peppercorns - 7-8 pcs.;
• bay leaf - 3-5 pcs.;
• Provencal herbs - 0.5 tsp;
• curry - a pinch;
• seasonings for fish, salt - to taste.

Order of preparation:

1. Clear the carcass of the insides, remove the head, fins and tail.
2. Rinse under the tap, put in a saucepan, pour cold water and put on a slow fire.
3. When light steam appears above the surface, add the whole peeled onion and seasonings.
4. Wait for boiling, reduce heat, remove the released foam with a spoon. Cooking whole mackerel is 30-40 minutes after boiling regardless of whether you are preparing a fresh product or thawed. It’s not worth it to keep it on fire, otherwise it will begin to fall apart.
5. 5 minutes before the end of cooking, salt the broth to taste. The approximate volume of salt is 1 tsp. per liter of fluid.

If you add some chopped potatoes, fried onions and carrots, a little greens to the broth, you get a wonderful ear. Only the liquid will need to be pre-filtered, since particles of bones may remain in it.

Important! Never start boiling fish until it is completely thawed. A sharp temperature difference will negatively affect the taste and appearance of the product.

How much to cook fish cut into pieces

• Total cooking time: 50 minutes.
• Servings Per Container: 4-5.

Tasty and rich in vitamins will result in mackerel broth if cooked with vegetables. Based on it, you can cook fish soup according to any recipe.

Ingredients for 1 carcass:

• water - 2 l;
• onion - 2 pcs.;
• carrots - 1 pc.;
• celery stalk - 1 pc.;
• peppercorns - 5-6 pcs.;
• salt, bay leaf - to taste.

Operating procedure:

1. Peel the mackerel, wash and cut into slices of the same size. If you plan to cook soup from the broth, take the fins and head too, only from the last remove the gills. So the dish will turn out more rich.
2. Peel onions, carrots, randomly chop the celery stalk. Fold in a pan, fill with water and put on fire.
3. When the liquid warms up and steam appears above the surface, introduce fish and spices.
4. Wait for the contents of the pan to boil, reduce the heat and cook, removing the pop-up foam.
5. Pieces will reach readiness in 20-25 minutes. Break one of them with a fork, and if the color of the pulp is uniform, you can pull it out. When you see red or pink spots, leave it on fire for a couple more minutes.
6. After removing the pieces, cook the head and fins for another 15-20 minutes. Then add salt, strain the broth and start cooking soup according to your favorite recipe.

On a note. If you have salted the broth, do not rush to add water to dilute it. Boil peeled potato in liquid for 7-10 minutes. She will absorb excess salt.