Air Fryer Teriyaki Mackerel With Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
This super simple air fryer recipe is the epitome of Cooking for One made easy. An easy weeknight dinner in less than 20 minutes—this quick and easy Air Fryer Teriyaki Mackerel, glazed with delicious homemade teriyaki sauce, made cooking weeknight dinner a breeze. The mackerel fish, including the teriyaki sauce are cooked simply in the air fryer. That means no hassle of stove-top cooking and very few dirty dishes after the meal guaranteed. Also, you can air fry the mackerel fillet from frozen without thawing for your convenience and to save time.
Serve the perfectly air-fried mackerel fish on a bed of freshly cooked rice, with just fresh salad, or both—whatever suits your fancy and diet. Pour the wholesome homemade teriyaki sauce generously over the crispy mackerel or serve it on the side Overall, it is one of my favourite healthy, quick and easy meals to cook for weeknight dinner and is archived in my repertoire of easy recipes for dinner. If you do not own an air fryer, fret not. I provided some instructions on how to cook this dish over the stove under the *Notes section of the recipe card below. I hope you give it a try and let me know how it goes.
HOMEMADE TERIYAKI SAUCE
You will be surprised how easy it is to make your own teriyaki sauce at home. It is also tastier and healthier than store-bought ones which contained many additives that are not good for our body. The teriyaki sauce recipe I provided here is very simple. I also provided an alcohol-free version for those of you who might prefer not to use any alcohol in your cooking. There are also substitutions for Mirin and Sake under the *Notes section of the recipe card if you do not have any in your pantry and cannot make it to the store to get some. Trust me, when you have tried making your own teriyaki sauce, you will never buy from the stores ever again. I hope you give it a try.
OVERVIEW
SERVING: 1
CUISINE TYPE: ASIAN | JAPANESE
COOK TIME: APPROX. 20 MINS
LEVEL: SUPER EASY
INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED
FROZEN MACKEREL, PRE-CLEANED & FILLET, 1 PC (115 G)
SALAD LEAVES OF YOUR CHOICE, PRE-WASHED (50 G)
FROM THE PANTRY
HIMALAYAN PINK SALT (TO TASTE)
BLACK PEPPER, FRESHLY GROUND (TO TASTE)
For The Teriyaki Sauce:
LIGHT SOY SAUCE (2 TBSP | 30 ML)
SAKE / DRY WHITE WINE (2 TBSP | 30 ML)
MIRIN (2 TBSP | 30 ML)
RAW CANE SUGAR (1 TSP)
For Alcohol-Free Teriyaki Sauce:
SOY SAUCE (2 TBSP | 30 ML)
FILTERED WATER (4 TBSP | 60 ML)
RAW CANE SUGAR (3 TSP)
For Garnish:
WHITE SESAME SEEDS, TOASTED (TO TASTE)
To Serve:
WHITE / BROWN RICE, SHORT-GRAIN, FRESHLY COOKED (1 CUP)
KITCHEN TOOLS
AIR FRYER
TRIVET
MITTENS
OVEN-SAFE DISH, SMALL
TABLESPOON
TEASPOON
CHOPSTICKS
SERVING BOWL, MEDIUM
STEPS
1
Combine the ingredients for the teriyaki sauce together in a small oven-safe dish.
2
Set the oven-safe dish on top of a trivet in the air fryer to cook for about 3 minutes at 200°C | 392℉. When done, remove the dish from the air fryer with mittens and set aside.
3
Replace the trivet with the air fryer basket and place a frozen mackerel fillet in the basket. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
4
Air fry the seasoned mackerel fillet for 12—15 minutes at 160°C | 320℉. Fry with the bottom side up first, then flip over to skin side up halfway through.
5
Remove the perfectly air fried mackerel from the air fryer when done and serve it over freshly cooked brown rice and fresh salad leaves.
6
Pour the homemade teriyaki sauce generously over the air fried mackerel, and garnish with a generous sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. Enjoy!
*NOTES
You can substitute 1 tbsp of Mirin with 1 tbsp of water or Sake + 1 tsp of raw cane sugar.
For Sake, you can substitute with dry Sherry, Sauvignon Blanc, Korean or Chinese rice liquor, cooking wine, or water in equal portion.
If you do not have an air fryer, thaw and season the mackerel fillet and fry it in a non-stick pan over medium heat on the stove until slightly crispy on both sides, then pour the teriyaki sauce mixture over the mackerel and cook for a few more minutes over low heat, allowing the sauce to glaze the mackerel on both sides. When done, serve and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
COOKING FOR ONE
This recipe is developed for the ‘Cooking For One’ Video Series and is designed with efficiency and ease in mind for the Solo diner. The goal is to encourage Solos who live alone to cook for themselves by making the process quick, effortless and hassle free. Frozen premium ingredients are used instead of the usual fresh ingredients that I championed so as to cater to the Solo lifestyle. Also, smart kitchen appliance such as the air fryer is utilised so that you can walk away to work on other tasks while the food is cooking, thus making the process more efficient. And it is a simple one-dish meal (usually requires less than 5 ingredients other than the ingredients from the pantry); is just single serving or in small servings so there is little to no leftovers; and very minimal cleanup at the end of the meal by intentionally using the same or very few kitchenware to cook and serve with throughout.
*SOME TIPS
Buy mackerels that have been pre-cleaned and fillet, and salad leaves that have been pre-washed and are ready to eat out of the package. This will save you effort and time to clean and prep it.
I chose frozen mackerel over fresh mackerel for freshness and shelf life because mackerels are usually sold in large portion, not meant for single-person households. That means there will be excess and the excess will need to be chilled or frozen depending on when the next use is. In this case, I think it is better to buy frozen than fresh because frozen will be fresher since it is blast-frozen at the source and the lag time from fresh to frozen is kept to the minimum. You can buy fresh mackerels and freeze any excess yourself, but the lag time is longer which may compromise freshness.
To minimise the number of kitchenware and tableware used, I seasoned the mackerel fillet directly in the air fryer basket and I used the same tablespoon as measuring spoon for the teriyaki sauce and serving spoon to eat with. I also used the chopsticks to flip the fillet in the air fryer instead of thongs and then used the same pair of chopsticks to eat with. The total sink load at the end of this meal is just six counts. It can be further reduced to five counts if you use a waterproof and oil-proof paper liner in the air fryer basket when air frying the mackerel.