Stuffed Grilled Mackerel

A piece of spicy grill mackerel being held with chopsticks.
This recipe is sponsored by Slap Yo' Daddy

One of Harry Soo’s favorite ways to eat fish while growing up on the tropical island of Penang in Malaysia was to have it grilled with spicy sambal. An accessible twist on a traditional dish, Stuffed Spicy Chili Paste Grilled Mackerel with spicy chili paste is aromatic, spicy, sweet, sour, and salty and will wake up your taste buds. Serve it with steamed turmeric rice.

With roots in Malay and Chinese cuisine, the cooking style called Nonya, was created when Chinese immigrants settled in Malaysia and married the local populace. Thai cuisine in the north and Indonesian cooking in the south further influenced the food.

The spice mixture is cooked, cooled, and then stuffed into side pockets and cut into the fish. The best fish for this dish is fresh mackerel, which is available frozen and thawed in many Asian grocery stores in the United States (look for Norwegian mackerel). It’s difficult to source all the authentic ingredients, such as candlenuts, torched ginger buds, or fermented shrimp condiments. However, great substitutions are readily available in the US, such as lemongrass, tamarind pulp, and bottled sambal olek.

Swipe to see all photos
A whole fish having an orange paste spead inside with a spoon.
The prepared spicy paste is spread thoughout the inside of the mackerel.
Whole cooked spicy mackerel served on a yellow placemat garnished with lime and cilantro.
The mackerel is served whole and can be garnished with decorative ingredients of what was used to make the stuffing paste such as lime and cilantro.
A fry pan with a wooden spoon stirring an orange spicy paste.
A wide range of Asian ingredients are blended down to this paste which is simmered before being placed inside the fish.
Slicing a fish down the center along the spine.
Clean the fish and slice along the spin to stuff, alternatively you can buy the fish pre-peraped for stuffing.
A piece of spicy grill mackerel being held with chopsticks.
Once the spicy grilled mackerel is cooked it is so tender the meat can easily be removed with chopsticks.

Stuffed Grilled Mackerel Recipe

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This recipe is sponsored by Slap Yo’ Daddy.
A piece of spicy grill mackerel being held with chopsticks.
A twist on a traditional Malaysian dish, Stuffed spicy grilled mackerel is an aromatic, spicy, sweet, sour, and salty dish that will wake up your taste buds.
Preparation 20 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
Ready in 40 minutes
Servings 4 Servings
CourseDinner
InfluenceAsian
DifficultySeasoned
MethodGrill

Ingredients

Spice Mixture

  • 3 tablespoons sambal olek chili paste
  • 6 shallots peeled
  • 2 cloves garlic peeled
  • 1 stalk lemongrass tender white part only, roughly chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Slap Yo’ Daddy "Love Me Tender" All Purpose Rub
  • 2 tablespoons tamarind pulp
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 3 tablespoons oil

Grilled Mackerel

  • 2 whole mackerel cleaned and gutted
  • 1 sprig cilantro
  • 1 lime cut in wedges

Equipment

  • grill

Directions

Spice Mixture

  • Place the sambal olek, shallots, cloves, lemongrass, all-purpose rub, tamarind mixture, sugar, and oil in a blender.
  • Blend until a smooth paste forms, adding a little water if needed, and scraping down the sides.
  • Cook the blended spice mix in a nonstick saucepan until aromatic, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool.

Grilled Mackerel

  • Clean the mackerel. Place the whole mackerel on the side and carefully make a deep parallel cut following the length of the spine (you are making a stuffing pouch on each side on the fish). Repeat on the other side. Stuff the spice mixture into the pockets.
  • Setup a grill with a hot and cool zone.
  • Drizzle oil all over the mackerel and place it in the hot zone. When there is some char and color, flip over and char the other side.
  • Move to the cool side once the char has been established. Be careful not to burn the mackerel. The oil that you drizzled will create a nice crispy char.
  • Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 357kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 25gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 53mgSodium: 108mgPotassium: 742mgFiber: 2gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 173IUVitamin C: 13mgCalcium: 72mgIron: 3mg

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About Harry Soo

“There is no better way to express love than cooking tender moist barbecue.” – Harry Soo

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