Five days. That's how long it takes to make the popular house-smoked mackerel toast at Mabel's Gone Fishing. The process starts when fresh seafood from local fishermen is delivered to the San Diego restaurant. From there, the fish is cleaned, cured, smoked, and marinated over the week.
Dedicated to serving seasonal seafood, Mabel's Gone Fishing has become a destination restaurant, achieving Michelin Bib Gourmand status and making it on Eater's 2022 Best New Restaurant list.
Dedicated to serving seasonal seafood, Mabel's Gone Fishing has become a destination restaurant, achieving Michelin Bib Gourmand status and making it on Eater's 2022 Best New Restaurant list.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 What up Shane?
00:02 How you doing, Chef?
00:03 Good afternoon.
00:05 How big of the fish today?
00:06 It's a good size one.
00:07 Pretty nice size.
00:11 Still a little bit of rigor.
00:12 We buy a lot of mackerel.
00:14 Oh yeah, you guys kill it.
00:17 So the mackerel toast is a dish that looks really simple, but
00:21 takes four or five days to create the end product.
00:24 The mackerel at Mabel's is probably like the best mackerel
00:29 I've ever had.
00:30 You know, mackerel is probably the hardest work fish, you
00:32 know, even for the chefs too, just because they're small.
00:35 But we find that the medium to large size mackerel are able to
00:40 sustain the smoke without getting overcooked.
00:42 Such a simple dish that, you know, there's really no place
00:45 to hide.
00:45 We're not putting a bunch of condiments on it.
00:47 It's all about the, you know, the fresh fish and the smoke.
00:50 [MUSIC]
00:54 There we go.
00:55 Let's call it there.
00:58 We like to process them as soon as possible,
01:00 just to keep the freshness of it.
01:02 So what he's gonna do is he's gonna basically filet them off.
01:05 After he's done fileting, he'll debone them, and
01:08 then we'll start our curing process, which is a sugar and
01:11 salt mixture.
01:12 And then we just serve it with our, you know,
01:13 Secret Sister country bread.
01:15 Couple of good new peppers, some lemon, that's all you need.
01:18 We couldn't open Mabel's without having opened the bakery first.
01:22 The schedule over at Secret Sister,
01:25 the bakery is they start at three in the morning.
01:29 They finish baking around noon.
01:31 They bring the bread to Mabel's.
01:32 Meal is about to shape.
01:36 Bread for tomorrow.
01:37 This is the country loaf.
01:39 This is the first step in our mackerel toast dish that we
01:42 serve at Mabel's.
01:44 Gets served on a nice, thick, fresh slice of country loaf.
01:47 We obviously do all of our bread here, and
01:51 we sell it at the bakery, and then we use it for Mabel's and
01:54 the Rose.
01:55 But what's cool about the mackerel, and
01:57 what I think is special with it too,
01:58 it's one of the places that the country gets served fresh and
02:01 not toasted, and so it has to be made day of, and
02:03 that's really what makes it so good, I think.
02:06 I don't think it would be the same product if it was on,
02:08 you know, grilled bread.
02:09 So three days before the bread gets to the customer,
02:13 that's when the first ferment starts.
02:16 Five days before the fish gets to the customer,
02:18 that's when the processing of the mackerel starts.
02:21 Nachos just finished up a batch.
02:23 Filet'd them and V-cut them.
02:25 V-cut just removes the pin bones from the middle,
02:28 makes it a little easier to clean after smoking.
02:30 So he's going to cure them lightly.
02:32 What we have in this little shaker is equal parts salt and
02:36 sugar, and then we're gonna let these hang out for
02:39 a full 24 hours.
02:40 In the walk-in,
02:41 the walk-in's going to circulate cold air around them.
02:44 The salt's gonna pull moisture out.
02:46 That cool air is gonna pull the moisture off,
02:49 creating a nice pellicle for the smoke to adhere to, and
02:52 that's crucial to getting that flavor right.
02:53 [MUSIC]
02:57 >> So all this bread gets shaped the day before, and
03:00 then it cold proofs overnight in its fanatons, and
03:03 then we bake it from cold in our deck ovens.
03:06 So we're just scoring it, and we're about to go in.
03:08 [MUSIC]
03:11 So because of our space, too,
03:12 all of our bread is hand-loaded on the boards.
03:15 We don't have a loader or anything, so
03:16 it gets a little, little tricky sometimes.
03:18 But we have figured it out.
03:20 [MUSIC]
03:26 And then we double steam it.
03:28 >> 24 hours later, so we've cured these last night, and
03:32 it gives the smoke something to adhere to, which gives it
03:36 a nice color, but it also, obviously,
03:38 flavors what we're going after.
03:40 These will be in the smoker around an hour.
03:43 Single box, we got about three levels in here.
03:46 We use a softwood, typically fruit.
03:49 Right now we're using applewood.
03:50 So we put that in there, turn this puppy on.
03:53 It's got a timer on it.
03:54 Hour later, we'll come back and check it.
03:55 [MUSIC]
03:59 >> So all of our bread that's been baked this morning is
04:01 gonna get bagged and ready for Mabel's.
04:02 So when I think about sourdough on a loaf of bread that I
04:06 really like, I want color on it.
04:08 I want a good, deep crust, and
04:11 I want it to be soft and chewy on the inside.
04:12 [MUSIC]
04:16 >> Bread delivery usually comes from Secret Sister,
04:19 right around like 12.30.
04:21 Neil, after her shift, brings it over to us.
04:24 Bread stays uncut until closer to service, so
04:27 we'll just put that away and
04:28 start to clean mussels, get that process going.
04:31 We found the best mussel was salt spring mussels.
04:34 They're super plump, and
04:35 they have a nice little orangey, reddish hue to them.
04:39 It's really aesthetically pleasing, but they're larger,
04:42 and they tend to be, just have that real nice toothsome bite,
04:47 but still remaining tender.
04:48 [MUSIC]
04:52 >> Dan and Ross had worked at the Rose with me before we came
04:56 over here, and Dan developed that mussel dish, and
04:59 it's been on the menu since day one.
05:02 >> Yeah, so I'm on the stove.
05:04 [MUSIC]
05:08 Now, we'll probably steam for eight to ten minutes,
05:10 until they're fully open.
05:11 We'll save the liquor, and
05:12 that will be incorporated into our marinating.
05:14 >> The local fisheries here in San Diego were historically
05:19 really strong, and now it's becoming more and
05:21 more difficult to be a fisherman in San Diego.
05:23 So we really wanted to try to do our part to support
05:26 the industry here and keep it viable.
05:28 [MUSIC]
05:31 One of the things that we care about here is making sure that
05:35 we're honoring the product, not manipulating it too much, so
05:39 that you can still really understand that what you are
05:42 eating here is extremely fresh, delicious fish.
05:44 >> Help these guys cool off.
05:47 After that, we'll de-beard them, and then we'll marinate it.
05:50 [MUSIC]
05:54 >> What's up, chef?
05:55 >> Hey.
05:56 >> Get your prawns here.
05:57 So these are soft shell prawns.
05:59 These guys are the ones that I molted this week.
06:01 And then these guys here.
06:03 Those are your popcorn prawns.
06:05 Our typical cycle's about 15 weeks.
06:07 These guys are probably about seven weeks old.
06:10 So they're about seven gram, eight gram average.
06:13 And our typical big boys are around 30 gram average.
06:16 >> Steve was talking to him about all the different sizes and
06:19 ages that he sells, and this one definitely stood out to Dan and
06:22 I.
06:23 These are the popcorn king prawns, and
06:25 we just dredge them in a little rice flour and fry them whole.
06:28 Dan and I loved eating the heads of prawns, and
06:31 this way it was like you could just eat the whole thing and
06:34 I think it was something new and exciting to our clientele and
06:38 our guests here at the restaurant.
06:40 [MUSIC]
06:42 Lightly season.
06:45 We'll hit this with a little sherry vinegar, some fresh lime juice.
06:49 And then right before we get to go to the plate, some garlic chives.
06:52 [MUSIC]
06:58 There it is.
06:59 [MUSIC]
07:03 Now our guy Nacho is starting the next process and the mussels,
07:06 they've been steamed, cooled slightly.
07:09 And so what he's doing now is kinda shucking them out of the shell and
07:12 de-bearding them.
07:13 We find that de-bearding them after they've been cooked,
07:16 they come out a little cleaner.
07:17 And there's nothing left residing in the flesh of the mussel themselves.
07:21 [MUSIC]
07:25 So we're gonna marinate these salt spring mussels in.
07:28 They've been cooked, de-bearded.
07:29 And here we have the finished escabeche.
07:32 It is a combination of smoked paprika and orange oil, lots of aromatics.
07:37 That's cooked on low to kind of pull out the natural oils from everything.
07:40 And then on the bottom is the vinegar and cooking liquid, or
07:44 mussel liquor, if you will, from the cooking process.
07:48 These are gonna sit for a minimum of 24 hours, but we like to go 48 optimal.
07:53 All right, it's been a little over an hour.
07:56 Got a small little batch of freshly smoked mackerel.
08:00 We do it in small batches, one so these things can get full smoke.
08:04 And what we're looking for is some nice color, which we have here,
08:07 all because we allowed them to cure for 24 hours.
08:10 So these are smoked perfectly.
08:12 >> So yeah, the mackerel's been butchered, cured, and
08:15 now we're just gonna clean them up.
08:17 Take a little bit of the blood line off, take the skin off, and
08:19 then drop it into our aromatic oil.
08:22 Nestle them in there.
08:23 [MUSIC]
08:26 >> So for our mussels, grill the sourdough, come straight off the grill.
08:30 Rub it with some raw garlic.
08:32 The camera doesn't lie.
08:33 I mean, they were nice.
08:34 They were plump, but they weren't this plump.
08:36 After they spent the time in the marinade, they just kinda accept all that in, and
08:42 they just plump up really, really nice.
08:43 [MUSIC]
08:58 >> Steve brought us these beautiful soft-shell jumbos,
09:01 which are definitely a specialty.
09:03 The way he harvests them, they're not always available.
09:06 Sometimes he needs to let them grow.
09:08 So Chef Dan and I, pre-service, we're just gonna mess around with these,
09:12 try a couple concepts that we have.
09:15 Just gonna season them with a little bit of salt here before they hit the grill.
09:18 We got this little hot spot in the back, and so we want that char, and
09:22 we want that intense heat.
09:23 So we're gonna put those right on that hot spot.
09:25 Not let them sit too long.
09:27 The popcorns we did, because it seemed like the perfect kinda like
09:31 little bar snack to have on our menu.
09:33 But here you get that added caramelization, that char.
09:37 We're always looking to innovate, change our menu, cite our cooks and
09:41 ourselves and our customers for sure.
09:44 But it's really cool when our favorite purveyors bring us
09:47 something a little different.
09:48 You don't get prawns in that mid-molting process when you order
09:54 frozen prawns or tiger prawns from overseas.
09:58 So this is super special, and not many people get to work with this.
10:00 I like to hit them directly with a little bit of citrus.
10:05 So as they relax, they're gonna suck that back in, and
10:11 it's gonna be part of the shrimp.
10:13 I'm gonna hand them off to Chef Dan.
10:14 >> So we'll probably try these two different ways.
10:17 We'll just do them as is, so we can just taste the flavor.
10:20 And then I made this a spicy fennel garlic scape condiment that we'll try with.
10:25 A little fennel pollen, sea salt.
10:31 >> To me, the most important part about this restaurant is that you can trust what
10:36 we're doing, that we're using quality ingredients, and it's still fun and
10:40 approachable, and everybody feels welcome here.
10:43 [MUSIC]
10:50 >> What do you think?
10:51 Menu ready?
10:52 >> I don't think anyone came out, has it?
10:54 >> The shell's there, but it's so not a factor in such a great way that
10:58 eating all of it is definitely accessible.
11:01 Even for the more timid diner,
11:03 I think they're gonna be timid until they take that first bite.
11:06 All right, that was fun.
11:10 Service time.
11:13 >> You think about the mackerel toast, which is a super simple dish.
11:17 Just bread, fish, guindilla pepper, salt, olive oil.
11:21 That's something that takes us five days to create.
11:23 Starts with Shane bringing us the fresh fish.
11:27 We process it, we cure it, we smoke it, we then marinate it.
11:32 And then five days later, it can make it to the plate.
11:34 The bread starts three days before it can make it to the plate with the initial
11:38 sourdough ferment.
11:40 Sounds simple and it's not.
11:41 Sometimes I think people even think we're opening a can.
11:45 And that's basically it, the dish, fresh country bread, our mackerel.
11:49 It's been cured, smoked, a couple guindilla peppers, extra virgin olive oil,
11:54 a little crunchy sea salt, and a lemon.
11:56 [MUSIC]
12:02 >> The idea for Mabel's, we wanted to create a neighborhood space.
12:06 We wanted to create really good food in this place I've lived in for 15 years.
12:10 We wanted to pay homage to a certain style of dining culture that you can find
12:16 in Spain and Portugal, where you can get a small snack and a drink or a full meal.
12:23 And you can take your time or you can be fast about it.
12:27 You can sit outside, you can be a part of your neighborhood.
12:29 I think San Diego is seeing a renaissance for sure of home ground.
12:36 We very recently got a direct to market fisherman's market in San Diego,
12:42 only like three years ago.
12:43 One thing I think is really cool is there's lots of us that grew up here that
12:49 are now able to put themselves into a business and
12:54 have come back from other markets to open restaurants here.
12:57 [MUSIC]
13:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]