Nathan Outlaw’s BBQ’d whole mackerel recipe

“I am often asked, ‘What is your favourite cooked fish dish to eat?’ Well, barbecued mackerel is the one for me,” says chef Nathan Outlaw.

“There’s something about the smell, texture, crisp bits and the smoke from the coals and wood that makes me very happy. This recipe is my very favourite way to eat it, and I love the smoked chilli sauce here that’s served with it.”

Nathan Outlaw’s BBQ’d whole mackerel

Ingredients:
(Serves 4)

4 large mackerel, gutted

For the rub:
2tsp chilli flakes
1tbsp fennel seeds
1tsp black peppercorns
Zest of 2 oranges
1tsp sea salt
1tsp chopped thyme leaves

For the smoked chilli sauce:
A drizzle of olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 smoked chillies, chopped
2 thyme sprigs, leaves picked and chopped
1tbsp fennel seeds
Zest of 1 orange
50g soft dark brown sugar
75ml red wine vinegar
100ml freshly squeezed orange juice
200g good-quality canned plum tomatoes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve:
16 asparagus spears, trimmed
12 spring onions, trimmed
2 small oranges, halved

Method:

1. To prepare the rub, toast the spices in a dry pan over a medium heat for a minute or so until fragrant and starting to crackle. Add the orange zest, salt and thyme and heat for 30 seconds. Grind in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder until fine, then leave to cool.

2. Slash the skin of the mackerel three to four times on each side and place the fish on a tray. Sprinkle all over with the spice mixture, rubbing it into the slashes. Leave to marinate in the refrigerator for one hour.

3. To make the chilli sauce, heat a frying pan over a medium heat and add the olive oil. When hot, add the shallot, garlic and chillies and sweat for three minutes. Stir in the thyme, fennel seeds and orange zest and cook for another minute. Add the sugar and wine vinegar and stir until the sugar has dissolved, then bubble and reduce until syrupy. Add the orange juice and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and bubble until the liquid has reduced by half again. Taste, then season with salt and pepper, as required.

4. Tip the contents of the pan into a food processor and blitz for three minutes. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a bowl and leave to cool.

5. Light your barbecue one hour before you plan on eating.

6. When the coals are white hot, place the mackerel on the barbecue rack and cook for three minutes on one side, then carefully turn the fish over and cook on the other side for three minutes. (Alternatively, you can cook the mackerel under a hot grill.) Grill the asparagus, spring onions and orange halves until golden.

7. Carefully lift the fish onto a serving platter, using a big fish slice (not tongs – mackerel is too delicate for those). Serve immediately, with the chilli sauce, asparagus, spring onions and orange halves on the side.

Nathan Outlaw On Fish: A Seafood Handbook is published in hardback by Kyle Books, priced £30. Photography by Kate Whitaker. Available April 16.