Charred Mackerel & Chilli Prawns with Fire-Roasted Vegetables
You're about to cook the kind of meal that stops conversations. Whole mackerel with blistered skin and smoky flesh. Shell-on prawns sizzling with garlic and chilli. Vegetables charred until their edges turn sweet and crisp. Everything cooked over live fire, brought to the table on one enormous platter.
This isn't complicated cooking – it's instinctive. You'll manage different heat zones, juggle timing across fish and vegetables, and watch flames do what ovens can't. The two-zone fire setup gives you complete control: high heat for searing the seafood, gentler warmth for roasting the vegetables. Within an hour, you'll have a feast that looks like it came from a coastal restaurant kitchen.
The mackerel gets drizzled with tahini sauce and scattered with toasted almonds. The prawns get squeezed with charred lemon. The vegetables – cabbage, asparagus, potatoes, tomatoes – arrive at the table still crackling from the grill. Put it all in the centre, hand out the bread, and let people dive in.
What You'll Need
Somerset Equipment:
- Your Somerset Grill with V Grill sections
- Cast iron griddle or Chapa (optional, for vegetables)
Additional Kit:
- Fire gloves
- Spatula
- Large serving platter
- Small bowl for tahini sauce
For the Mackerel:
- 4 whole mackerel (gutted and cleaned, around 300g each)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- 50g flaked almonds
- 1 tsp sumac or chilli flakes (for garnish)
For the Tahini Sauce:
- 4 tbsp tahini paste
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2-3 tbsp cold water
- 1 clove garlic (crushed)
- Pinch of salt
For the Prawns:
- 500g large prawns (shell-on, heads-on if available)
- 2 fresh red chillies (finely chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 whole lemons (halved)
- Fresh parsley for garnish
For the Vegetables:
- 1 pointed cabbage (sweetheart), cut into wedges
- 1 bunch asparagus (woody ends trimmed)
- 500g baby potatoes (par-boiled and halved)
- 1 vine of cherry tomatoes
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Fresh basil leaves
Method
- Light your charcoal or wood in the ember maker around 45 minutes before cooking. You're looking for a solid bed of embers with some flames still dancing – medium-high heat.
- Hold your hand 10cm above the embers. If you can keep it there for 3-4 seconds, you're ready to start cooking. Create two heat zones – one side with a strong ember bed for searing the fish and prawns, and one with gentler heat for the vegetables.
- Make the tahini sauce by whisking together the tahini paste, lemon juice, crushed garlic, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Add cold water gradually until you have a smooth, pourable consistency, then set aside.
- Toast the flaked almonds in a small pan on the edge of the grill until golden brown. Keep an eye on them – they catch quickly. Remove and set aside.
- Pat the mackerel dry, drizzle with olive oil on both sides, and season with coarse sea salt. Toss the prawns with the chopped chillies, minced garlic, and olive oil. Drizzle the cabbage wedges and halved potatoes with olive oil and season with salt.
- Place the cabbage wedges and potatoes cut-side down on the medium heat zone. You're looking for deep char marks and crispy edges – turn every 5-6 minutes. The cabbage wants around 15-20 minutes total, the potatoes around 20-25 minutes.
- Once the vegetables are well underway, move to the hot zone for the mackerel. Cook for 4-5 minutes per side without moving them – you want that skin to blister and crisp. The fish is ready when the skin is deeply charred and the flesh flakes easily. Remove to your serving platter.
- Place the lemon halves cut-side down on the hot zone until caramelised – around 3-4 minutes. Add the prawns and cook for 2-3 minutes per side until the shells turn pink and the flesh is opaque.
- In the final few minutes, add the asparagus and vine of cherry tomatoes to the grill. The asparagus needs 3-4 minutes, turning occasionally. The tomatoes just 2-3 minutes until they start to burst.
- Arrange all the vegetables on a large platter, scatter the fresh basil leaves over the top, and drizzle the mackerel generously with tahini sauce. Top with toasted almonds and a good pinch of sumac or chilli flakes.
- Transfer the prawns to the platter and squeeze the charred lemons over them. Finish with fresh parsley, then bring the whole platter to the table while everything is still hot and crackling from the fire.
Top Tip: The two-zone setup is essential for this feast. Having both high heat for searing and moderate heat for the vegetables gives you complete control when you're juggling multiple components.
Top Tip: The cabbage should be almost black in spots where it touches the grill – that char is where the flavour lives. Don't be shy with the heat.
