Cook your Catch – Crispy Spanish Mackerel Katsu
Eugene L. 12.27.23
Here we go again with another recipe for one of my favorite light tackle targets in the Gulf, the Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorous maculatus). These sharp-toothed little speed demons are very versatile when it comes to cooking. While not a white meat fish, the Spanish mackerel isn’t considered fishy by most people. I caught plenty of Spanish mackerel on my last trip down to the gulf and made good use of them when fresh. While King Mackerel suffers a lot from freezing, that isn’t the case when it comes to Spanish mackerel. With not as much oil content in their flesh, they hold up well for months when vacuum-packed and frozen. Sticking with the Japanese theme for this week, I’m going to show you how to make a different sort of fried fish this week. With a crispy Spanish Mackerel Katsu, a breaded and fried preparation that uses Panko breadcrumbs to make for an incredibly crunchy coating.
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This a consolidated cleaning breakdown, as I have already covered how to fillet a Spanish mackerel in the Ceviche recipe. Take the head off and trace the fillets.
Either start from the back or belly side and follow the bones with your knife, work over the spine, and fillet the next side past it.
Trace the pin bones of the fillet on both sides down to the skin, and trim out the ribs of the Spanish mackerel.
Start at the tail end of the fillet with your skinning knife, and gently push forward with the knife staying as flat to the skin as possible. Spanish mackerel skin is very thin so if you push through don’t worry just trim off any skin you leave behind.
Cook your Catch – Crispy Spanish Mackerel Katsu
Crispy Spanish Mackerel Katsu – Ingredients
- Boneless skinless Spanish Mackerel fillets
- 1/2 Cup Flour
- 2 eggs
- Panko Bread Crumbs
- Frying Oil
- Water
- Salt and Pepper
- Lemon for Garnish
Tarter Sauce – Ingredients
- Mayo
- Dijon Mustard
- Sweet Relish
- Pepper
- Wasabi
- Lemon Juice
Cabbage Salad and Dressing – Ingredients
- Cabbage
- Mayo
- Ketchup
- Salt and Pepper
Start off by making the cabbage salad, get a head of cabbage, and peel off loose outer layers. Cut it in half, then wrap and put the other half away.
Slice the cabbage as thin as you can and place it into a bowl. If you have a mandoline I would recommend that instead of cutting it by hand. The thinner the cut on the cabbage the crunchier the salad. Fill the bowel with cold water and put aside for 30 minutes.
Start heating up your frying oil in a deep pot, at least 3 inches of oil. You want the oil to reach 375F for cooking up the Spanish Mackerel Katsu.
Take your skinless Spanish mackerel fillets and season both sides with salt and pepper.
Dredge the mackerel fillets in 1/4 cup of flour, make sure everything is well coated so the batter sticks well.
Make the batter with the other 1/4 cup of AP flour, 2 eggs, 2 tbsp of cold water, and a pinch of salt. Mix it thoroughly. Take the flour-coated mackerel pieces and dip them into the batter. Make sure they are well coated.
Then take your batter-coated pieces of fish and dredge them into the panko breadcrumbs. Make sure to coat them well and press the panko breadcrumbs into the fillets. Note you have to use Panko Bread Crumbs for this recipe, normal breadcrumbs won’t have the right texture. The crumb size of panko is much larger and it is airier which gives the fish katsu its distinctive crunch.
Carefully drop the breaded pieces of fish into the hot oil. Make sure to raise the heat slightly as you add in the fish to adjust for the temperature drop. You want the oil to stay hot to keep your fish from being greasy. Adjust the heat back down after a few minutes of adding in the fish.
While the fish is frying make your tarter sauce and dressing. The cabbage salad dressing is 1 part mayo to 1 part ketchup with fresh ground pepper in it. The Tarter sauce is 3 parts mayo, 1 part Dijon mustard, and 1 part sweet relish. Add fresh ground pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a pea-sized blob of wasabi if you have it. Adjust the tartar sauce to your tastes. Pull the cabbage from the water at this point as well.
The fish will be done frying once it’s golden brown and easily floating in the oil, remove it from the pot and put it on a cooling rack or paper-lined tray to drain any excess oil.
Once the you are done frying the Spanish Mackerel Katsu, start plating it with a side of white rice, the cabbage salad, and a lemon wedge.
