Honestly was craving something different yesterday. Saw mackerel fillets at the shop, kinda cheap and looked okay, remembered that spicy curry idea knocking around my head for weeks. Grabbed ’em, plus curry paste, coconut milk, the usual suspects. Okay, game on.
Prep Was Trickier Than I Thought
Got home, unwrapped the fillets. Skin-on, obviously. Pat ’em dry like my life depended on it – used a whole bunch of paper towels, water everywhere. Threw salt all over, rubbed it in, figured “more the better”. Big mistake? Maybe. Left ’em sitting like that for like 20 minutes while I chopped onions, garlic, ginger. Tiny bits, took forever, fingers smelled funky.
Rinsed the fillets – whoa! Salt overload washed away, good. But man, they felt kinda slick still. Dabbed ’em again, more paper towels. Felt wasteful, honestly. Cut ’em into chunks, maybe a bit big, but okay. Smeared some plain flour on those chunks. Messy hands, sticky bowl.
The Cooking Chaos Started
Pan on the stove, oil in, waited for it to smoke – recipe said HOT. Spoon tested it, big sizzle, alright. Gently laid the fish chunks in. Yikes! Oil spitting like crazy! Used the lid as a shield, almost felt like a gladiator. Cooked maybe two minutes each side? Hard to tell with the oil storm. Just wanted golden bits, pulled ’em out fast. One chunk stuck, lost a bit of skin. Wallpaper looks greasy now.
Same pan, less oil now. Dropped the onions, garlic, ginger in. Stirred like mad. Onions soft yet? Seemed okay after a few minutes. In went the curry paste – big spoonful, looked insane red. Stirred that gloop around for ages, maybe 2-3 minutes. Kitchen smelled… intense. Little smoke happened.
Bringing It All Together
Poured coconut milk in carefully, still splashed a bit. Stirred, scraped the pan bottom cleanish. Tossed in a bay leaf, a pinch of sugar, bit of salt again, careful this time. Let that bubble gently for ages, felt like 10 minutes. Sauce looked thin. Worried it wouldn’t cling to the fish.
- Hottest Moment: Gently slid the fried fish chunks back in. Spooned sauce over ’em. Biggest challenge was not breaking them! Mackerel’s delicate. Stuck with low heat, little bubbling. Five minutes? Six? Just kept checking a chunk – felt tender when poked with a spoon, didn’t fall apart. Perfection? Maybe.
Took it off heat after maybe 7-8 minutes. Fish felt soft, sauce thickened slightly, coconut milk smell won over the curry.
The Messy Taste Test
Scooped chunks onto plain rice. Spooned sauce over. It looked… like curry fish, honestly. First bite? Fish was seriously soft and flaky! Flavour punch – spicy, coconutty, fish held its own somehow. Salt level good, spice level solid heat but okay. Got it. Tender secret? Maybe it was the rinse, maybe careful cooking at the end? Dunno exactly. Floor needs mopping, hands stained yellow, but it tasted damn good.
