Sierra Mackerel with Japanese Citrus

I’ve long been a fan of mackerel,  both cooked and the vinegared saba of sushi restaurants.  Its oils have a rather strong presence, and I’ve found that most people either really like it, or really dislike it.  I still clearly remember the first time I had it; I felt like I could have eaten a dozen! To me the oil is a feature, not a bug; it just needs to be tempered with a little acid, either in the form of citrus or vinegar.

Lots of places around me sell frozen mackerel from Norway, and it tastes great prepared simply, typically just by heating up some olive oil and butter, seasoning the fish with salt and pepper, and pan frying until done, followed by a healthy squeeze of lemon. It’s also a meaty fish — one mackerel is usually enough for two people, if served with salad and some good bread.  A variation on that simple treatment would be to omit the salt, and add a little soy sauce and lemon to the pan toward the end of cooking (soy sauce and lemon like one another very much).

Lately I’ve been eating a new (to me) kind of mackerel called Sierra mackerel. Its oils aren’t quite as strong as the regular mackerel;  it’s a beautifully light fish, chock full of omega 6s. It just tastes like it’s really good for you, and it turns out that it is. My favorite prep for it so far: the simple pan fry described above, but instead of lemon, a small drizzle of Japanese citrus: either yuzu, sudachi, or kabosu. All three are available in bottled form at Nijiya, or any Japanese market. Top with tangerine salt, or whatever your salt of choice is.

I’m working on scoring actual trees of yuzu, sudachi, and kabosu. It’s not easy. But I think I’ve got the right climate for them; now it’s just a matter of convincing the Northern California Rare Fruit Growers to actually come up with some! Has anyone reading this ever seen any of these citrus trees in California? I know a guy in Oakland with a GORGEOUS yuzu tree, packed with hundreds of individual yuzu. I’m not a person who easily gets envious or jealous, but I would KILL to have such a happy yuzu tree!