Second of the smoked seafood trio of courses, the mackerel course had awesome components, but a lot of people didn't feel they came together in the course, and I suppose I have to agree. I brined then hot-smoked some mackerel and served it warm with a grapefruit, chive, and endive salad with grapefruit vinaigrette. It also had some awesome mackerel "chicharrones." I thought the tartness of the grapefruit would be good with the fatty smokiness of the mackerel, but I think the grapefruit was just overkill. At least the balance was off. Still, the mackerel and mackerel chicharrones were awesome.

Initially I wanted to make chicharrones out of the beautiful mackerel skin, but it didn't work; there isn't enough connective tissue in fish skin for it to puff after being cooked and dried. Instead I used the puffed starch method:

Mackerel Chicharrones
130g scrap mackerel flesh, bloodline removed
45g fish brine
145g tapioca starch

Pass the mackerel flesh through a tamis. Combine mackerel, brine, and tapioca starch in a bowl and knead together to form a dough. Divide dough into a couple pieces. Roll out each piece as thinly as possible between two sheets of plastic wrap, leaving the sheets in the plastic wrap. Place the wrapped sheets of dough in a steamer while still between the plastic wrap, and steam for 15-20 minutes. Remove from steamer and unwrap the sheets of dough. They're easier to unwrap while still warm. Don't worry, the dough will not be delicate. Cut the dough out into desired shapes. For maximum chicharron likeness, they should be strips about 1/2" thick. Dehydrate in the oven overnight at 130-200F. Dehydrated dough can be stored indefinitely in an airtight container. Finally, deep fry pieces of dehydrated dough in 400F oil just until completely puffed, turning pieces while they fry if necessary, about 30 seconds. Drain on a rack or paper towels, salting while still hot. Once cooled, chicharrones can be stored in airtight container for a month or so.

Posted by Barzelay on 2009/11/25 @ 18:23 | Comments (1) | Food Additives, Lazy Bear, Seafood, Veggies, Fruit, Grain, Cheese

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