Name: Fried harissa mackerel buns with chimichurri
Ingredients: 50g hispi or white cabbage, thinly shredded; 2 tsp lemon juice; 1 tsp olive oil; 2 tsp harissa; 2 smoked mackerel fillets; 2 floury white rolls, split; 2 tbsp mayonnaise; 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed; ½ tsp dried mint; ½ tsp dried oregano; fine sea salt; 25g flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped; 25g coriander, roughly chopped; ½ tsp white wine vinegar; 1 tbsp olive oil

Serves 2

Prep 15 min

Cook 15 min

Fried food? Tick. Eaten by hand? Tick. Eminently versatile depending on whatever condiments you have in your fridge? Tick. Mayonnaise and chimichurri are the go-tos for test kitchen development chef Jake, but all manner of other things will work well here instead – for example, some Greek yoghurt spiked with any chilli sauce. To get the crispness you need on the mackerel will create a fair amount of smoke, so open the windows or turn on the extraction fan before you start grilling.

Ingredients

For the mackerel buns
50g	hispi or white cabbage, thinly shredded
2 tsp	lemon juice
1 tsp	olive oil
2 tsp	harissa
2	smoked mackerel fillets
2	floury white rolls, split
2 tbsp	mayonnaise
For the chimichurri
1	garlic clove, peeled and crushed
½ tsp	dried mint
½ tsp	dried oregano
	fine sea salt
25g	flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
25g	coriander, roughly chopped
½ tsp	white wine vinegar
1 tbsp	olive oil

Method

First, make the chimichurri. Put the garlic, dried herbs and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt in a mortar and bash to a uniform, khaki-coloured paste. Add the fresh herbs and vinegar, bash again until the herbs break down to a mulch, then stir through the oil. (Alternatively, do this in the small bowl of a food processor.)
Mix the cabbage and lemon juice in a small bowl.
Put the olive oil in a large, nonstick frying pan on a medium-high heat. Add half the harissa, followed by the mackerel skin side down, and fry, flipping over halfway through, for three minutes in all, until crisp and golden. Transfer the fish skin side down to a tray and spread the rest of the harissa on top.
Put the buns cut side down in the same pan and fry for 90 seconds, so they toast and soak up the remaining oil. Spread the mayonnaise and chimichurri evenly across the toasted buns. Cut each mackerel fillet in half widthways, and put two half fillets in each bun, stack the cabbage on top and serve.