Raw mackerel, so good! All edible?

[Xisca]

I got really fresh mackerel yesterday. I had bought 3 fish. I thought I was going to cook them very slowly and little, but decided to try it raw while I was cleaning them. It was so good that I ate all the fish! Then I put the others in a jar with orange and lemon. Actually I ate 3 fish in 1 day. But not all raw, I still have soup today. I make the soup to remove all from the bones.

Is it ok to eat raw fish with no lemon/acid? Is raw fatty fish ok? How long can you keep it without getting the harmful stuff in non fresh fish?

I have  question about cleaning the fish, and what has to be removed. I removed what looked like stomach. It was very different from and terrestral animal and was a bit lost in the anatomy... How can I get explanations? Thanks

[dariorpl]

Plenty of people eat raw fish without marinating them in acid, notably the japanese and to a certain extent all western countries where sushi has become widely popular. Personally, I think most raw fish tastes way too bland or simply unappetizing without marinating it in lemon juice first.

About the internal organs, I suggest removing all of them except the eyes, or simply taste for yourself and see what tastes good and what doesn't. A warning though, most internal organs will taste horribly bitter. And you are likely to find very small, barely visible, live intestinal parasites as well. The eyes can be really tasty once you get over the initial shock of the fact that they seem to be staring at you while you poke them out with a fork, and once you learn hot to prevent squirting eye fluid all over the place in the process.

About cleaning the fish, water alone is used, if you want. I usually do this to partially remove any potential chemical that may be used to keep them fresh, and to remove the bitter taste from the insides if I punctured some internal organ in the butchering process, which I always seem to do.

[dariorpl]

I don't know mackerels, but if they have scales, keep in mind that fish scales can be tricky to get rid off without a tool designed for it. Plastic bottle caps can be used as a substitute with some degree of effectiveness.

I don't suggest eating the raw scales, but if you try them and you like them, go for it.

[Xisca]

Thanks Darior!
I have already experimented eye explosion lol....
I thought sushi had some problems due to raw and no acid! That some people got worms etc. I prefer ceviche!
Mackerel might be the right word, I had caballa. They have no scales. Actually I made a broth with skin and espinas, or else how to remove all the flesh between tiny bones?

WE have a scaly fish here called vieja, and it gives the best broth you can imagine! And I think glycine is very beneficial, so I prefer to cook the parts that give broth and get the gelatine stuff. I do same with animal bones.

As I have found liver, this I ate. The rest of inside went to compost.

[frankiet]

Try Norwegian mackerel if you can find it, its like a completely different food. So much richer, tastes like butter. I usually filet it, scoop the flesh out of the skin, then eat that with the liver/heart.

[Qondrar_The_Redeemer]

I tried eating raw fish a few times since I started Zero Carb. Just ate the entire fish, the scales, the organs, the bones. Nothing left. I didn't try mackerel because it seems like another small fish which will result in all the bone shards and scales getting stuck in my teeth. It also makes my home smell like fish, where as beef or lamb does not. Overall, I'd say you can eat the entire fish if you want to. The internal organs all tasted quite bitter, but I found it a pleasant bitter taste. The eyes, scales and bones were tasteless.

I agree with frankiet that good wild-caught fish have a very nice taste and a butter like texture to the meat. I've personally been considering trying some larger species of fish, so I don't have a mess in my teeth and house every time I eat fish. I've also not found any fish that tastes as good as 100% organic, grass-fed lamb. Keep in mind that I've only been talking about wild-caught fish.

[TylerDurden]

I (usually) think it's great to eat the whole animal, if possible. I can do that with raw oysters(well,er, minus the shell!), but I find that the innards of fish, especially the liver, tatse too toxic for me, in general. I think one should trust one's instincts, anyway...

[Xisca]

Try Norwegian mackerel if you can find it, its like a completely different food. So much richer, tastes like butter. I usually filet it, scoop the flesh out of the skin, then eat that with the liver/heart.

I live near south morroco and I eat local! This fish was just taken the same morning! This has the best value i can imagine...

[Xisca]

(well,er, minus the shell!),

[jibrael]

I got really fresh mackerel yesterday. I had bought 3 fish. I thought I was going to cook them very slowly and little, but decided to try it raw while I was cleaning them. It was so good that I ate all the fish! Then I put the others in a jar with orange and lemon. Actually I ate 3 fish in 1 day. But not all raw, I still have soup today. I make the soup to remove all from the bones.

Is it ok to eat raw fish with no lemon/acid? Is raw fatty fish ok? How long can you keep it without getting the harmful stuff in non fresh fish?

I have  question about cleaning the fish, and what has to be removed. I removed what looked like stomach. It was very different from and terrestral animal and was a bit lost in the anatomy... How can I get explanations? Thanks

We once had an active member here whose name was Inger. She ate a lot of mackerel and Herring.

Once Inger told , fatty fish is not suitable for making broths. I don't know the exact reasons for this, but I simply followed her advice.

Mackerel brain is also good. Skull bones are soft, so I chew the skull bone which contain the brain.

Inger was also the biggest fan of mackerel head smoothies and for her it is one of the top most Super Food. Here you could watch her making and drinking mackerel head smoothie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEq8Yc5tk3s


Organs:
Mackerel heart is very bitter, while liver is bitter too, but not so much. Any how, whenever I ate mackerel heart and liver together, then I had to vomit after couple of minutes to hours.

Then I tried only Mackerel liver. No vomit this time. Then I felt that Mackerel liver is much more powerful and healthier than ruminant's liver. Try it for yourself. May be for first few times it will be uncomfortable (detox effect?), but after that perhaps you too will find it healthier.

[Apani]

Yeah, the first time I tried raw mackerel organs, I had to vomit like 4 hours later.

The next day howevet I woke up with a very strong hard on, and I normally never getting morning wood.

[Xisca]

Once Inger told , fatty fish is not suitable for making broths. I don't know the exact reasons for this, but I simply followed her advice.

Inger was also the biggest fan of mackerel head smoothies and for her it is one of the top most Super Food. Here you could watch her making and drinking mackerel head smoothie.

Do not watch this video! I do not like to eat and have to make such an upset face! Where is instinct if you do not like your food?!!! She has to pinch her nose and rinse her mouth!

For broth and fatty fish: omega 3 are just fragile....

[van]

I agree, never did want to say while she was here, but eating drinking things that you don't like is a sure way to get stuck in your head and leave your instinct behind. And yes polyunsaturated fish oils, especially from whipping/blending air into it seems like a recipe for oxidized fats.  Fish and  Animals in the wild only eat fish immediately after being caught.

[jibrael]

I agree, never did want to say while she was here, but eating drinking things that you don't like is a sure way to get stuck in your head and leave your instinct behind. And yes polyunsaturated fish oils, especially from whipping/blending air into it seems like a recipe for oxidized fats.  Fish and  Animals in the wild only eat fish immediately after being caught.

Van,
I have one suspicion.
I eat mackerel head too with eyes and brain and soft bones (without blending them). But I never get that "Energy Boost" which Inger always talk about.

Then I specifically asked Inger if she includes Fish GILLS in the smoothie or not. And she told me indeed she is blending fins and gills too.

I suspect that it is due to gills/fins that she is getting that energy boost.

I tried to eat the gills/fins without blending, but they are awful and I failed eating them.

Any how, indeed I get that energy boost from the mackerel liver (especially when I eat liver of 5-6 mackerel in one day).

[Xisca]

That is why I chose the intermediate, and I cook what I cannot eat! After all, our ancesters used fire for this purpose, and had no blender! I do a very long enough slow cooking with no boiling, to get stuff from bones and skin etc.

[jibrael]

That is why I chose the intermediate, and I cook what I cannot eat! After all, our ancesters used fire for this purpose, and had no blender! I do a very long enough slow cooking with no boiling, to get stuff from bones and skin etc.

Did our ancestors use to do the slow cooking on fire?

Please elaborate further:

(1) How do you do the slow cooking of fish and meat, and which parts.

(2) Do you feel energy boost after eating the cooked meal?

[Xisca]

Yes of course our ancesters could slow cook! There was a time when the cooking was done in a bag made of a stomach, and the heating was with hot stones coming from the fire, that they put inside the bag. They would move it to avoid burning 1 place.

Skin and bones are hard, but when cooked they give you more food than raw. You can also extract in the broth and drink the broth.

My mother taught me to not boil fish but simmer it, very easy if you stay near the saucepan...
Our very recent elders were cooking on the wood stove, and with such low heat that would leave the soup all night.