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Preparation
20 minutes
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Cooking
2 hours 20 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Tomato sauce mackerel has become a stew dish quite familiar in Vietnamese family meals. The tomatoes with a light sour taste combined with the fatty, tender, and delicious mackerel will make your family meal more flavorful and appetizing. Let’s get into the kitchen to make this enticing dish right away.
Ingredients for Tomato Sauce Mackerel For 3 people
Mackerel 400 gr Tomatoes 3 fruits Chili 2 fruits Green onion 2 sprigs Cooking oil 2 tablespoons Fish sauce 4 tablespoons Common spices a little (salt/ sugar/ monosodium glutamate/ seasoning powder)
How to choose fresh and delicious ingredients
How to choose fresh, quality mackerel
- You should choose live, active fish that swim healthily in the water.
- The fish’s eyes should be clear, the gills should be light pink, and the scales should be shiny.
- Especially with chilled fish, you should check the freshness by pressing the fish’s body; fresh fish will have a firm body that does not sink when pressed and has high elasticity.
- Mackerel is quite common and easy to find in markets and supermarkets, so to buy fresh fish, it’s best to go to the market early.
- If the fish feels soft when held, has a bent body, has many scratches on the skin, and has a slimy texture with an unpleasant smell, do not buy it as this indicates the fish has been stored for too long or is spoiled.
How to choose fresh and delicious tomatoes
- Choose tomatoes with bright red skin, evenly colored, and without scratches or damage.
- Tomatoes that ripen naturally usually have a light characteristic fragrance, feel firm and heavy in hand; you can use this trick to select the freshest tomatoes.
- Identify fresh tomatoes through the stem; ripe and fresh tomatoes typically have a green stem that is firmly attached to the top of the tomato.
- Avoid buying tomatoes that have a mix of red and green colors or have black spots on the skin, as these are usually very bland and lack flavor.
How to prepare Mackerel in tomato sauce
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Prepare mackerel
Clean the mackerel by removing the scales, cutting off the head and tail, and using a knife to remove the belly and intestines of the fish. Rinse the fish with diluted salt water and then let it drain. Use a knife to make light, even cuts along the body of the fish.
How to clean mackerel without a fishy smell
- You can use rice water to soak the fish after cutting off the head and removing the intestines. Soak the fish for about 15 – 20 minutes, then take it out and rinse well with water.
- Use a mixture of alcohol or white vinegar and water to soak the fish. After 5 minutes, take the fish out and rinse thoroughly with water.
- Lemon juice can also help eliminate the fishy smell. Squeeze lemon juice into warm water, then soak the fish for about 5 – 7 minutes.
Wash the tomatoes and let them drain, remove the stems and chop finely.
Wash the chili, remove the stems. Clean the green onions and cut off the roots, then cut the green onion tops and place them in a mortar with the chili to pound finely. The green onion leaves should be chopped small.
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Make tomato sauce
Put a pot on the stove, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and keep the heat medium for the sugar to dissolve gradually. When the sugar starts to dissolve, use chopsticks to stir well until the sugar is completely melted, continue cooking until the sugar turns a brown color.
Once the sugar changes color, add the finely chopped tomatoes, the pounded chili and green onions, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of MSG, and 4 tablespoons of fish sauce into the pot and stir for about 5 minutes until the tomatoes are cooked and the seasonings dissolve.
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Fish Braised
You put the mackerel into a pot and stir until the fish meat firms up, then add enough water to cover the fish (about 1/2 cup), turn the heat up high to bring the water to a boil, and after the water has boiled, cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium, braising the fish for about 20 – 30 minutes.
After 20 – 30 minutes, uncover the pot and adjust the seasoning to taste, continue braising until the fish sauce thickens, then add chopped green onions and turn off the heat. You can sprinkle a little ground pepper on top to enhance the aroma of the dish.
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Final Product
Serve the braised mackerel with tomato on a plate and enjoy.
When eating, you will experience the fragrant smell of the fish combined with the sour and fragrant taste of the tomatoes, the mild spiciness of the chili, the firm fish meat, and the rich flavor, which will be very appetizing.
The braised mackerel with tomato will be tastier when served hot, paired with white rice or bread is also delicious. Your meal will be much more appealing with this flavorful dish.
See more
The above is a guide on how to make mackerel in tomato sauce that is fragrant and flavorful. It’s really simple and easy to make, right? Let’s get cooking right away. Wishing you success.
*Refer to the images and recipes shared from Facebook: TuyetNhung Tran.
