Mackerel whole round are great to be cooked alone or mixed with other ingredients to make one great delicious and healthy recipe. Mackerel can be purchased as canned fish product that easily to be found in grocery stores or better, you can buy fresh whole round mackerel instead which offer higher amount of nutrition without additional seasonings or preservation. You can also pick up a mackerel that serve as fillets, cutlets, or steaks that are boneless and easier to be prepared. Mackerel can be cooked by grilling, frying, smoked, or baking. One of the simplest ways to enjoy eating mackerel at whole is barbeque with easy preparation.

How to barbeque mackerel whole round fish?

Mackerel whole round are very great for barbequing; they will have delicious taste with robust flavor which suitable to the smokiness of BBQ. In addition, it takes easy preparation since you do not need to remove the bones of mackerel manually because you can just barbequing the whole fish and since mackerel fish is a fast cooked sea food, barbequing the fish with its bones help to slowing down the cooking time and thus prevent you to overcook. With that being said, overcooked mackerel will result in dry appearance so it will decrease the joy when eating this oily and succulent fish.

When barbequing a whole round mackerel, you will be able to tell whether the fish are cooked through by the color of fish eyes which turn into milky white while the flesh should be moist and flaky as well as the skin that are easily to be removed. When barbequing the mackerel, make sure that the grilling is clean and the fish is well oiled to prevent the fish sticking to the grill.

Before you cook the mackerel, you need to know how to pick the best mackerel whole round fish. Choosing the high quality mackerel which in good condition will ensure you to have great meal, learn how to pick the fresh whole round mackerel by following the tips below:

-          Check the eyes and pick mackerel with clear and bright eyes not sunken

-          The mackerel should have ocean-like smell

-          The fish feels a bit slippery with oily look and moist skin

-          The scales are attached firmly to the skin and should not be missing

-          The flesh feel firm as well and the tail is stiff

-          Bright red gills

-          The skin looks shiny with bright and natural coloring

If you are finding it hard to find a good fresh and raw whole round mackerel, then you can replace them with frozen mackerel which can be found at fish market or grocery stores. These are the instruction when choosing mackerel whole round frozen:

-          Check the package whether is there any damage

-          No sign of thawing and the fish should be frozen hard

-          No visible signs of dry, white, and dull patches or in other words freezer burn

When you purchase either fresh or frozen mackerel, you should use them as soon as possible to get the best condition. If you want to use them one day after then you need to keep and store them carefully to prevent spoilage. You can store the fish inside refrigerator but make sure that the temperature is between 0 to 5 degrees Celsius. Fresh fish should be used soon; however you can store them overnight only while frozen fish should be stored at -18 degrees Celsius or less. Please take a note that frozen fish should not be refrozen to keep the taste tasty.

Now, how you can make mackerel whole round barbeque?

·         Scale the mackerel and remove the gut/ internal organs. Clean the fish before you barbeque them and after that slash the flesh several times so the seasoning absorbed to the fish meats perfectly. You can drizzle and season the fish with marinade or olive oil.

·         Preheat the grill and place the fish on top of the barbeque directly or in barbecue fish basket.

·         Cook the mackerel about 3 to 5 minutes on each side and turning the fish just once during cooking. The mackerel are cooked when the flesh looks opaque and comes easily away from the bones.

Follow the steps above to cook and barbequing mackerel whole round fish and enjoying them with your family.