![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/ajitenpp.png\" "\\"ajitenpp\\"")
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Horse mackerel, or jack mackerel (aji in Japanese, Trachurus genus in Latin, chinchard in French) is highly praised in Japan, but treated as a cheap, secondary fish variety in most European countries. I have recently noticed my fishmonger carries horse mackerel almost all year round, especially the smaller ones. Following Hiroyuki’s kind advice (from Hiroyuki’s Blog\u00a0on Japanese Cooking<\/a>), I decided to make aji tempura or ajiten.<\/p>\n Until now my only experience in tempura was asparagus (see here<\/a>), shrimp and tiny fish fillets. Ajiten means frying the whole fish only with head removed and I was afraid that both the preparation and frying would be tricky. I needn’t have, since this tempura proved quite simple. Thanks to Hiroyuki’s<\/a> research I learnt\u00a0here<\/a> and here<\/a> how to prepare the fish, while coating and frying it was easier than in the case of asparagus<\/a>. The fried fish was juicy inside, slightly crispy outside and, surprisingly, not greasy. I took to horse mackerel at once because it has a delicate flesh and doesn’t have the overwhelming typical saltwater species smell. Moreover, its taste brings me back to my childhood holidays, when I would ask my mum to fry for me\u00a0freshly caught small river fish for breakfast every day…<\/p>\n I don’t know if my ajiten looked or tasted as it should, nor if my decision to make a thicker tempura mixture was right. I had \u00a0this tempura only with the Tomato and Shiso salad (click here<\/a>) and it was one of the best meals I can remember. Thank you, Hiroyuki, for your help!<\/p>\n Preparation: about 20 minutes + 20 minutes marinating<\/em><\/p>\n Ingredients (serves 2):<\/em><\/p>\n 6 smaller horse mackerels (mine were about 15 cm long)<\/em><\/p>\n 3 tablespoons cooking sake<\/em><\/p>\n salt<\/em><\/p>\n 5 tablespoons tempura mixture + 3 tablespoons ice cold water<\/em><\/p>\n Wash the mackerels.<\/p>\n Gut them and prepare them, scaling them, cutting off the head, removing the main bone and spreading them flat, see here how to make it:<\/p>\n