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.
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.