Nevin Halici

Stuffed Mackerel

Uskumru Dolmasi

Preparation info

  • To Serve

    4

    • Difficulty

      Medium

Appears in

top 1000Nevin Halici's Turkish Cookbook

Nevin Halici's Turkish Cookbook

By Nevin Halici

Published 1989

  • About

Mackerel is very popular in Turkey. You will find it grilled, fried, sautéed, and cooked with vegetables. This recipe for stuffed mackerel is quite unusual. The fish must be very fresh because the skin must be left intact although the flesh and bones are removed. It is then stuffed with the cooked fish and deep-fried.

Ingredients

  • 4 mackerel (total weight about 1 kg/2 lb., cleaned through the gills and heads left on (see below)

Method

To prepare the fish, make a cut, as if to sever the head from the body, just above the gills, but leave the head attached at the backbone. Remove the gills and insert your finger to remove the innards. Wash the fish thoroughly, inside and out. Pound gently with a mallet to soften the flesh and break the backbone in several places. Snip the backbone behind the head so that the head remains attac