I’ve only ever eaten canned tuna and decided I need to widen my horizons and start eating more fish. So for some reason I’ve settled on mackerel and sardines because they look easily accessible and are already cooked.
So just tried mackerel for the first time, cheap tin, less than £1. It tasted like a saltier, fishier version of tuna really, couldn’t taste the tomato sauce at all.
Is this normal or is this because I got a mega cheap tin? What other ways could I have eaten this? I just scoffed it with a fork.
Are sardines similar tasting? Cheers guys!
by dankekindly
11 Comments
I love it as the protein in my ramen. I don’t like the tomato sauce ones, but the smoked,plain, and chili varieties have been great. Nice alternative to adding tuna.
I love mackerel added to a warm dish because of how fatty it is, but not a huge fan of it by itself. Typically with mackerel a pricier tin is way better, while with sardines even a cheap tin can be decent (imo).
Just try some sardines, I am sure you won’t be disappointed. Try to get them in olive oil as opposed to soy or water, it makes a huge difference. Though if you want to be healthy water is the healthier option for obvious reasons, but flavour wise it’s not that great. If you’re in the US just get yourself some King Oscar sardines in olive oil. They are the standard and pretty good for the cost. Also available about anywhere.
There are a lot of recipes online about how you can incorporate tinned fish into a bunch of dishes, more and more have been popping up now canned fish is getting more popular.
Hi there! You have much to learn, but you;ve found the right place to learn it.
Mackerel is one of the friendliest of canned fishes – it’s firm, comes sold pretty much exclusively in boneless, skinless fillets, and despite being pretty fatty, is usually pretty firm. Good for salads and sandwiches.
Sardines come in a LOT of variety. Many people start with boneless and skinless, and if you need to, go ahead. But the world opens up when you become willing to eat the tiny, soft bones, and the skin. (Scales are another story – no one likes scales). There are several different types of fish that are sold as sardines; the smallest are sprats; they are firm, often smoked, and tasty. On the other end of the spectrum are European pilchards – much of what you will see on this sub are pilchards. Bigger, softer, and to my taste, a little fishier (in a good way! I love fish!).
Tins come packed in all sorts of preparations – from plain water to various oils, and with or without goodies like peppers, carrot, spices, and herbs in the tin. When it comes to oil, olive oil is best; many people dislike seed oils and stay away from those.
There are cheap tins which are great, and cheap tins that are awful. If you find one that is consistently good, stock up! But the mid price (US$4-7) generally seem to be more reliable. And then there are pricey tins; often the fish is outstanding in these, but the value proposition is iffy.
Check out the sidebar in the sub for a list of online retailers, and go start window shopping to get a sense of what’s out there. And come post pics of your finds.
I love mackerel better than sardines. Saury is also very good, I just had my first can of it today. Check out your local international market for some great finds. The label on the back usually says what fishbit is if you can not read it.
Also, I can’t say enough good things about garfish.
You just bought a bad tin. There’s lots of delicious mackerel out there. First, always be suspicious of super cheap tins and lower your expectations accordingly, unless it’s a tin you already know you like and you just got lucky. Second, in 35 years of eating tinned fish I have never found a tomato sauce one that I actually liked.
Edit to add: next time you’re at the store, take a photo of the selection. People on this sub will be happy to steer you to something better.
I eat a bunch of mackerel in spicy tomato sauce cause it’s cheap and healthy and I tend to have it on toast, sometimes with avocado or some fried spinach 🙂 also good with some rice and veggies 😋
I like makerel and generally consider it to be milder than tinned tuna, but I’m not a big tinned tuna fan, I loved seared and raw tuna though. Tinned tuna has no texture or bite to it, just soggy fish mush to me, ok as a tuna salad. Since I don’t care much for it I haven’t investigated and tried many tins so it’s likely that I just haven’t had good tinned tuna! I like sardines too and to me they are a bit stronger on the fishy meter than makerel but they have a better/different texture and body.
If you like spicy food you should try some hot sauce canned fish.
I love fishwifes makerel!! Really good on toast with sour cream or mayo, dill, lemon juice, pepper, capers
Not a big fan of the tomato ones myself but try a smoked one in olive oil and it’s quite nice.