Barbecue mackerel & sticky rice cakes

Guardian recipe

(Serves 4)

200g dried rice cakes, soaked for 12 hours in plenty of cold water
2 large mackerel, filleted
A bunch of spring onions, trimmed to use only the white and light green part
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Chinese rice vinegar
8 bamboo skewers, about 20cm long
1 tbsp vegetable oil (if not cooking on a barbecue)

Bring a pan of water to the boil with a generous pinch of salt and add the drained soaked rice cakes. Cook until soft (about 10 minutes), then drain and cool under running water. When cold, drain again and drizzle with half the sesame oil to stop the rice cakes from sticking together.

Remove the pin bones from the mackerel by cutting down the middle of the fillets either side of the bones. Cut each of the strips into three or four pieces about 5cm long.

Cut the spring onions into similar lengths.

Make a marinade by combining the soy sauce, sugar, remaining sesame oil & vinegar in a bowl. Reserve half of the sauce and set aside to serve.

Place the mackerel in the marinade mixture, toss together and let it sit for 10-15 minutes to soak up the flavour.

Skewer the mackerel pieces, rice cakes, and spring onions one-by-one to the bamboo skewers, feel free to use more rice cakes as you like as you go along the skewer.

Cook over a hot barbecue for about three minutes each side until the mackerel is cooked through and the rice cakes are crisp and turning brown in places. (These skewers can be pan-fried in a little vegetable oil over a moderate heat if you don't want to barbecue.)

Serve with the reserved marinade as a dipping sauce.