Smoked Mackerel and Horseradish Cracker Plates
Tinned smoked mackerel, horseradish mayo, and crackers. Lunch with no stove and no cutting board.
- calories
- 530
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 96
- protein
- 30 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- Snack
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Day hike
- Canoe / raft
- Bikepacking
- Dairy free
- Eat in the bag
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Tinned smoked mackerel fillets | 1 tin (about 3.5 oz) | packed in oil, not water |
|---|---|---|
| Mayonnaise packets | 1 tbsp | single-serve packets are shelf-stable |
| Prepared horseradish | 1/2 tsp | or 1/4 tsp horseradish powder |
| Sturdy crackers or crispbread | 4 to 6 | rye crispbread survives a pack better than saltines |
| Sun-dried tomato halves | 3 or 4 | the dry-packed kind |
| Black pepper | a few grinds | |
| Arugula or watercress | 1 small handful | day one only, skip it after that |
Method
- Squeeze the mayo into a small bag or the tin lid. Stir in the horseradish and pepper. Taste it before you commit to more horseradish.
- Open the mackerel and flake it with a spoon. Leave the oil in.
- Spread the mayo on each cracker, then load with fish and a torn piece of sun-dried tomato.
- Add greens if you still have any. Eat over the bag so the crumbs land somewhere useful.
The original was fresh mackerel on toast, which does not travel. Tinned smoked mackerel does, and it is one of the few shelf-stable proteins that carries real fat with it. Sun-dried tomato stands in for fresh tomato and adds acid without the water weight or the mess.
Horseradish is doing more than heat here. Oily smoked fish gets heavy fast, and the sharp mayo cuts through it enough that you finish the tin. Mix the mayo first and taste it. Horseradish strength varies wildly by jar, and there is no fixing it once it is on the crackers.
Packing
Crackers ride in a hard container or they arrive as meal. Mayo packets, horseradish, and sun-dried tomatoes go in one small bag with the tin.
Variations
- Horseradish powder saves the wet condiment and rehydrates in the mayo in a minute.
- No crackers: stir the fish and mayo into a bag of cold-soaked couscous instead.
- Tinned sardines or kippers work the same way and cost less.
https://hedgecombers.com/smoked-mackerel-open-sandwich-with-horseradish-mayo