Mackerel In Tomato Sauce

My mum hasn’t been cooking very much recently as her health is getting not as good as before. Another reason is that I hardly have the chance to taste her delicious food after I moved to Australia. She always cooked her heart out and tried to find ways to get her kids eat more. Her way of cooking tomatoes really get us hooked, whether it’s cooked with eggs, or chicken, pork chops or fish. The sweetness and sourness of the sauce just strikes the balance. And her kids, including myself of course, would finish a big bowl of rice without any complaints when a dish of tomato sauce placed on the table. To be honest, I’d never cook as good as her when it comes to cooking this kind of dish.

Mackerel In Tomato Sauce (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

• 1 piece Mackerel fillet, about 350gm
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 2 large tomatoes, 240gm, deseeded and cut into smaller pieces
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 80ml water, to cook tomatoes, the quantity of water added depends on how your tomatoes are
• 20gm brown sugar in piece (片糖), available from Asian grocery
• 1 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Thickening:

• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1 Tbsp water

Method:

1. Rinse Mackerel and wipe dry with kitchen papers. Season salt and pepper on both sides, rub with a dash of Shaoxing wine. Lightly coat with cornflour.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium. Cook fish until both sides are golden. Dish up on serving plate, covered.
3. Add more oil in pan, sauté garlic until aromatic. Toss in tomatoes, sprinkle salt. Add water and sugar. Cover and cook until sugar completely dissolves and tomato turns soft. Add ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until sauce reduces to half. Add thickening and cook to the consistency to your preference. Pour sauce over fish. Serve hot with steamed rice.