Help me pickle some mackerel easy-like
January 31, 2011 2:12 PM   Subscribe

I have a two part question: 1. Where can I find prepared fresh mackerel in Portland Oregon for the purpose of salting or pickling it myself, and 2. will pickling or salting other kinds of white fish turn out as tasty as it does with mackerel, and if so, what are the best kinds?

I've grown to absolutely love both the pickled and salted mackerel served at Biwa, but they're too expensive and far away for me to go there on a regular basis. My girlfriend and I found some whole mackerel at Uwajimaya, and after entirely too much work, managed to get entirely too little pickled mackerel out of it. Using whole mackerel is more work than it's worth, but if we could find prepared mackerel fillets somewhere, I'd be able to eat it all the time. (We also have salted some, but haven't tried it yet, so I'm withholding judgment on that one.)

Second, as an alternative to finding mackerel fillets, I could try other whitefish, but I don't know if they will turn out close enough to the same. Does anyone have advice about pickling or salting other kinds of whitefish?
posted by Caduceus to Food & Drink (8 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'd stop in at Pacific Seafood down on Powell. They'll at least be able to point you in the right direction. New Seasons will order just about anything for you as well, but as far as price-tag goes, you might be best off hitting up a wholesaler and buying a case. Sometimes wholesalers (Nicky USA does this for land-and-air going meats) will let you buy a whole case of something, as an individual, at wholesale pricing.

Fish that is fillet's has quite a pricetag on it. Fishmongers at the coast will add about 10 bucks a fish to clean and prep it, expect to pay more than that through a store here in town.
posted by furnace.heart at 2:41 PM on January 31, 2011


My uwajimaya sells saba (already pickled) by the fillet, for a totally reasonable price. Are you sure yours doesn't?
posted by KathrynT at 3:47 PM on January 31, 2011


A traditionally pickled fish here in the midwest is Northern Pike, since it has lots of tiny bones in the middle of the fillet, but I don't know if it's available to you.

Also, herring.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 3:48 PM on January 31, 2011


Try the fish counter at Anzen. I believe they have mackerel, not sure whether it's pickled or not.
posted by ottereroticist at 5:37 PM on January 31, 2011


Previously.
posted by ottereroticist at 5:39 PM on January 31, 2011


You want to be very careful when preserving mackerel and other members of the family Scombroidae such as tuna, mahi and sardines. Failing to control for even small amounts of temperature variation and spoilage can result in the growth of some nasty bacteria that produce pathogenic compounds. These compounds are heat stable and do not get destroyed by salt, pickling or cooking (see scombroid food poisoning).

With that warning, the salting fish term that you are looking for is 'kenching' or 'to kench'. It's important that you let the brine drain away during this kind of preservation and that there are no parts of the fish that are exposed to air (particularly with the mackerel). The fishy oily briny water that drains away can get real foul smelling real fast, so use your best judgment on whether you want to do this at home. Anyway, here are some methods and FDA guidelines that you might want to look into before you start preserving fish.

I'm afraid I can't help you with the pickling, but I wouldn't use a freshwater pike recipe for an oily saltwater fish with a reputation for making people sick when improperly handled. Take care, keep the fish cold cold cold and good luck!
posted by kuujjuarapik at 5:48 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]


My mother buys mackerel at Korean grocery stores. There are quite a few in the Beaverton area. I go to Paldo and rather large one called H Mart in Tigard. They have mackerel there as well as prepared side dishes you can purchase. I don't know what you mean by salting as I don't think I've ever had salted mackerel, but if you are looking for fresh/frozen/canned mackerel, you will find it at the two places I mentioned. Happy eating!
posted by loquat at 10:28 PM on January 31, 2011


I just saw fresh whole mackerel at whole foods in the pearl district two days ago. I know they would be happy to fillet them for you. Most of the fish counter staff there are very friendly and helpful.
posted by hsawtelle at 8:23 AM on February 3, 2011


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