Stegt Makrel med Rabarberkompot og Nye Kartofler

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy frying pan, cast iron or stainless steel
• •Medium saucepan for the potatoes
• •Two small saucepans, one for the compote, one for the parsley sauce
• •Fish slice or wide spatula
• •Sharp knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the rhubarb compote

   Put the rhubarb pieces in a saucepan with the sugar and water over medium-low heat. Stir gently once, then leave the pot alone. The rhubarb will release its own juice within a few minutes, and the pieces will begin to soften at the edges while holding their shape in the center. This takes eight to ten minutes. You want a compote, not a purée: some pieces intact, some broken down into a tart sauce around them. If everything collapses into mush, the heat was too high. Take the pan off the heat and set it aside. The compote is good warm or at room temperature, and both work beside the fish.

   Taste the compote before you set it aside. It should be noticeably tart, with just enough sugar to take the raw edge off the sourness. If it tastes sweet, it won't do its job against the richness of the mackerel. The tartness is the whole point.
2. 2

   Boil the new potatoes

   Put the scrubbed nye kartofler in a pot of cold, well-salted water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer and cook until a knife slides through the largest potato without any resistance, fifteen to eighteen minutes depending on their size. Starting in cold water matters: it lets the potatoes heat through evenly from the outside in. If you drop them into boiling water, the outside overcooks before the center is done. Drain well, return them to the warm pot, and toss with the butter and snipped chives. Put the lid on and keep them warm while you cook the sauce and fry the fish.

3. 3

   Make the parsley sauce

   Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and stir constantly for one minute. This cooks out the raw flour taste that can ruin a white sauce. Pour in the milk gradually, a splash at a time, stirring after each addition until the sauce is smooth before you add more. The sauce will thicken as it comes to a gentle simmer. Let it cook for five minutes, stirring often, until it coatsthe back of a spoon without dripping off immediately. Season with salt and white pepper. White pepper, not black: black pepper leaves dark specks in a white sauce, and the Danes care about that. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the chopped parsley. Adding it off the heat keeps the parsley bright green and fresh. If you cook it into the sauce, it turns dark and tastes of boiled leaves.

   If the sauce goes lumpy, whisk it hard. A few lumps will disappear with vigorous whisking. If it's beyond saving, push it through a fine sieve, return it to the pan, and carry on. Nobody needs to know.
4. 4

   Fry the mackerel

   Score the skin of each mackerel fillet with three shallow diagonal cuts, just through the skin, not into the flesh. The scoring stops the skin from contracting in the heat and curling the fillet away from the pan. Pat the fillets completely dry with kitchen paper. Moisture is the enemy of crisp skin. Season both sides with salt and black pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Lay the fillets in skin-side down and immediately press each one flat with a fish slice for the first thirty seconds. This is the critical moment: the skin must make full, even contact with the hot surface, or it steams instead of crisping. Cook for three to four minutes without touching them. The skin will turn deep golden and crackling. You'll see the flesh turning opaque from the bottom up, a white line climbing toward the surface. When only a thin strip of translucent flesh remains at the very top, add the butter to the pan and flip the fillets. Cook for one minute more, spooning the foaming butter over the fish. The makrel is done when the flesh is just opaque all the way through. Pull it a moment before you think it's ready. Carryover heat finishes the job, and overcooked mackerel turns dry and chalky, losing the richness that makes this fish worth eating.

   Don't move the fish once it's in the pan. Every time you shift a fillet, you break the contact between skin and surface, and the crust has to rebuild from nothing. Patience gives you the crisp. You'll know when it's right.
5. 5

   Plate and serve

   Spoon a pool of persillesovs onto each warm plate. Lay a mackerel fillet on top, skin side up so the crisp surface stays visible and intact. Arrange the nye kartofler alongside and add a generous spoonful of rabarberkompot next to the fish, not on it. You want to take a bite of each together: fish, compote, potato, sauce. Let the flavors meet on your fork rather than on the plate. A sprig of fresh dill on top finishes it. Serve immediately, while the skin still crackles under the knife. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Buy mackerel the day you cook it, or as close to that as you can manage. Fresh makrel smells of the sea, clean and briny. If it smells of anything else, it isn't fresh enough for this dish. A good fishmonger will fillet and pin-bone it for you. Ask.
• •The pan must be properly hot before the fish goes in. If the oil isn't shimmering, wait. A lukewarm pan means the skin stews in its own fat instead of crisping, and you lose the contrast that makes this dish sing.
• •Don't sweeten the compote to please everyone. The tartness is the point. It's there to cut through the oil-rich flesh, and if you soften it with too much sugar, the balance tips and the whole plate loses its architecture.
• •A cold Danish pilsner or a glass of dry, unoaked white wine is the right company here. Something clean and simple that doesn't fight the fish. Muscadet, Chablis, or a good Grüner Veltliner all work.

Advance Preparation

• •The rhubarb compote can be made up to two days ahead and kept in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature before serving, or warm it gently in a saucepan. The flavor actually settles and improves overnight.
• •The persillesovs can be made thirty minutes ahead and kept warm with a lid on. Stir in the chopped parsley just before you serve so it stays bright.
• •The mackerel must be fried at the last moment. Crisp skin waits for no one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)