grilled mackerel and bok choy with cold soba

one of my favorite things to eat at lunch while working downtown is grilled saba, or mackerel. i usually get it from one of the japanese restaurants near my office, or at one of those salad bars like julie's kitchen. the saba is usually simply grilled with salt and pepper, finished off with either lemon or dill. moist, meaty and good for you, this seafish is one of my favorite fish to eat.

i've often wondered how easy (or hard) it would be to prepare mackerel at home. i have this weird aversion to cooking fish in my kitchen and i'm not sure why. familiarity probably has to do with it. if you threw me a chunk of non-descript pork meat, i could do wonders with it. toss fish at me, and i'm usually at a loss. so here goes my first attempt at making grilled mackerel at home.

swinging by the nijiya market in j town this evening, i picked up a small package of fresh mackerel that was already prepped (filleted, deboned, etc.) a couple heads of baby bok choy, and opened up a package of soba noodles from my pantry. after washing the mackerel filets and patting dry with a paper towel, i scored the skin a couple of times and seasoned both sides of the fish with salt and pepper well. i also sliced the bok choy in half lenth-wise and got a pot of water boiling for the noodles.

a couple of tablespoons of olive oil went onto a hot grill pan and in went the mackerel, meat-side down first, and the bok choy, cut side down. after about 4 minutes, i flipped everything over to char the other side.

after 5 minutes in the boiling water, the soba noodles were rinsed in cold water and set to drain while i plated everything up. here you see a bowl of soba noodles topped with the grilled bok choy, a small bowl of soba dipping sauce with a touch of wasabi, and the grilled saba on the rectangular plate. i garnished with a bit of marinated seaweed and pickled radish.

the mackerel was excellent! mackerel is an oily fish so the dense meat stays moist even when cooked for a while on high heat. with just salt and pepper, this simple preparation really showcases the richness of the fish. i think a little lemon would help cut that richness a bit next time. you really can't beat how easy it is to prepare this fish though. salt, pepper, oil and grilled for 4 minutes on each side. easy peasy.

the soba noodles were cooked al dente and the dipping sauce base was standard fare. it's the grilled bok choy that took me by surprise. the char adds just enough flavor and was a nice contrast against the heavier mackerel. i didn't even have to season it. very nice.

so my first foray with mackerel? consider it a success. mackerel is inexpensive (the 2 filets here were only $3.24, at $7.99/lb) and easy to prepare. next time, a little lemon, maybe some rice to soak up the tasty grilled grease, and all will be perfect. i could get used to eating mackerel on a weekly basis.