Bokkoms

[Swing Swang]

Spent some time in Velddrif in South Africa earlier in the year, where the local speciality is cured mullet known as bokkoms. I bought 160 of them and brought them back to the UK once I filleted them and packed them in oil anchovy-style (totally legally, we’re allowed up to 20kg of dried fish!). Amazing taste. Like strong anchovies. Go well as a snack with a glass of chilled white wine from the Cape. They make a great pasta puttanesca too.
They’re not gutted, but salted in vats under a weight for a few days, then hung up to dry in the sun. A light cure gives a soft squidgy oily result, whereas a longer drying time makes them very hard indeed.

Here is a YouTube upload that I made of me prepping them

https://youtu.be/U-JD2h9_bkg?si=0PFw4TYbOnyctTbF