How to prepare baby-horse-mackerel and deep fry them!

Hi everyone. I’m Jinta from Japan.

In this article, I will show you how to prepare and deep-fry baby horse mackerel.

 

I know that baby horse mackerel is a common ingredient in supermarkets, but I think some people avoid it because we do not know how to handle it. However, it is very easy. If you get it fried, you can eat not only fish meat but also its bones. So please try to include it in your repertoire. Moreover, it is sold at a comparatively low price. It’s a good deal, too.

 

It’s not difficult, but there is a little trick to handling it, so I’ll introduce that too. The key to fried fish is to fry them twice.

 

Let’s get started!

Today’s baby horse mackerel

There is no such kind as a “baby horse mackerel”. They are simply small horse mackerels.

Place of Origin: Mie Prefecture

Length: approx. 11 cm (14 cm total length)

Weight: 11 fish, 320g

Price: 178 yen (560 yen per kilo)

 

How to handle and prepare baby horse mackerel

This section explains how to prepare horse mackerel for deep frying.

If you are concerned about the scales and slime on the surface, remove them with the tip of a knife.

You can remove the “zeigo” if you like, like the horse mackerel in the left column, but I do not. Because it will become soft when fried. Actually I ate fried fish with “zeigo”, but I felt it was unnecessary to remove.

Now, let’s cut it up. I will not use a knife from here. I’ll show you the Before/After so that you can get an idea of what it looks like. You can see After that the pectoral fins have come off.

Now, let’s process it for the After.

When you quickly raise the jaw of the horse mackerel, the gill cover will open. The gills are connected in positions ①and ②, so it’s easy to keep this in mind. I’ll remove the gills first.

Remove the gills at position ① first.

Then you can see that the gills are also connected in position ②.

So, remove the gills at position ②. Now that the gills have been removed. And the part that is strongly connected to the main body has been separated.

Once the gills are removed, change the handle and pick up the pectoral fins.

Remove the meat from the belly by pinching the guts. Pull toward the buttocks.

It also comes with internal organs like this. It’s easy if you try it.

Using running water, clean the inside of the stomach by tracing it with your fingers.

Finally, wipe the surface and the inside of the belly dry.

Preparation is complete.

 

How to Make Deep Fried Horse Mackerel

If I had to give one point, it would be that you want to eat the whole fish from head to tail, so you need to soften the bones. In that case, I recommend frying it twice.

The first time, fry it at a low temperature of about 150℃ for 10 minutes; let it rest for about 5 minutes, and the second time, fry it at a high temperature of about 180℃ for 2 minutes.

Ingredient

• cooking oil
• 2 tablespoons potato starch (or wheat flour)
• Salt and pepper as needed

Method

Put the horse mackerel, potato starch, salt and pepper in a plastic bag and cover well. Sprinkle the inside of the belly well.

Be sure to remove any excess powder.

This is the first time. Fry at low temperature (about 150°C) for 10 minutes.

There are fewer bubbles at the end.

Let it rest for about 5 minutes. The second frying should be more thorough.

The second time. Fry at high temperature (about 180°C) for about 2 minutes. After frying, remove to a bat and drain off the excess oil.

Serve on a plate, and your fried bean horse mackerel is ready. You can enjoy the whole thing.

Freshly fried is the best. It’s crispy on the outside and the flavor just boils out of the inside!

Summary

In this article, I introduced how to handle horse mackerel and how to make fried fish. Once you get used to it, it’s easy to prepare, so please give it a try. The fried fish can also be made into “nanbanzuke”. If you pickle it, it will keep well, so I think that’s another option. How about adding these delicious horse mackerels to your dinner table?