I’m desperately clinging on to the last vestiges of summer — in complete and utter shambles knowing that the season of sunshine is officially over. Goodbye, joy. So long, happiness. See you later, golden rays and lazy days. I’m greedily grasping and soaking up every rare ray of sunshine I can get before fall hits us full blast. Sometimes that means I need some sunshine in my mouth. Like these fish tacos. Bright and fresh, bold and spicy, these tacos (along with a pint of ice cold beer glistening in a frosted mug) will transport you back to summertime, replete with cerulean skies and sunny isles. Hello, happiness.
I scoured the interwebs for a good recipe then realized I don’t really need one. Ironically, I’m posting one. But hear me out. You don’t really need a recipe for this. You just need to know the basic flavour profile you want to build and your favourite fish taco fillings, then go from there. So here are the basics:
The Fish: You can use any kind of white fish — cod, halibut, sole, etc. I used sole fillets because they were budget-friendly. They are thin though, so you might want to double stuff your tacos. Season the fillets with salt, pepper, cumin, maybe some paprika, some ancho powder, some chipotle powder, perhaps even some dried garlic or onion. The flavour profile you build is totally up to you! I kept my fish simple with just cumin, and some paprika for colour, because the pico de gallo is already loaded with onion, garlic and fresh jalepenõs.
The Slaw: Please buy a mandoline. Treat yourself and get the Benriner, a Japanese-brand mandoline that will easily remove the tips of your fingers if you get distracted, but will also shave the lightest, fluffiest slaw you will ever have the pleasure of eating. Cabbage is generally awful to eat raw — it smells like barf and is crunchy and bitter, but when you shave it as thin as rice paper — it magically transforms into a fluffy cabbage cloud with a slightly sweet, nutty flavour. And only a Benriner mandoline can achieve that ninja level of slicing. Seriously.
I used both red and green cabbage because — look! The colours! So pretty! I love!
The Pico De Gallo: The pico de résistance! Pico basics: Roma tomatoes. Red onion. Garlic. Cilantro. Lime juice. Salt. Optional: fresh jalepenõs, a bit of extra-virgin olive oil, and more cilantro. Or add your avo here, or toss in some mango, or pineapples — go nuts! So good, so fresh, so versatile. It is excellent on its own, as a topping, or as a dip.
Baja Sauce: PSA: this ain’t your fatty mayo-based Baja sauce. Bleaugh. Mayo, amirite. Gross. This one’s a low-fat Greek yogurt chipotle sauce that will liven up your fish tacos with spice and flavour without bogging down your arteries. This is as healthy a decadent sauce as it gets. It’s just 2% Greek yogurt blended with 2-3 tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and the juice of half a lime. Season with some salt and a squirt of honey to temper the heat and blend it all up in your Vitamix/magic bullet/hand blender/what-have-you. Easy!
Toppings: More cilantro. More lime juice. Avocado. Corn. Black beans. Cheese. Sour cream. A doughnut. Just kidding about the last one. Or am I?
Lay out the soft taco shells and all the taco fillings and toppings on the dinner table and you’re good to go. It may look like a light dinner, but Darren had five and declared himself officially full. And the good kind of full — not the heavy I-need-a-forklift-to-get-me-out-of-this-chair kind of full. The girls and I had a modest three each and were plenty satiated.
The best part was having fun building our tacos at the dinner table and experimenting on flavour combos and topping proportions together. I double stuffed mine, Zoë went for an all veggie taco, Keira made a mostly salsa taco, and Darren preferred the corn tacos over the flour ones for flavour authenticity. Whichever way our imaginations and taste buds brought us, it was delicious. Make some this week!
xx
mlee
Fish Tacos
Serves: 4 ~ 6
Ingredients
Slaw:
- 1/2 head small sized green cabbage, shaved thinly
- 1/2 head small sized red cabbage, shaved thinly
Baja sauce:
- 3/4 cup 2% Greek yogurt
- 2-3 tablespoons chipotles in adobo sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice (or the juice from half a lime)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- a squirt of honey. interpret this as you like
Pico de gallo:
- 4-6 Roma tomatoes, diced small
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 red onion, diced tiny
- 1/2 bunch cilantro, minced
- 1/2 jalepenõ, diced tiny (optional)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice (or the juice from half a lime)
- pinch of salt and pepper
Fish:
- 8- 10 sole fillets
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- optional: dried oregano, ancho powder, chipotle powder, garlic powder, onion powder
Taco shells:
- 10-12 soft flour and/or corn tacos
Optional toppings:
- 1 avocado, sliced thin
- a few sprigs of cilantro
- more lime wedges
Instructions
- Shave red and green cabbage, toss together to mix up the colours. Cover and set aside in fridge.
- Blend Baja sauce ingredients together with an immersion blender or food processor. Cover and set aside in fridge.
- Dice and mince ingredients for pico de gallo, and mix together in a medium-sized bowl. Cover and set aside in fridge.
- Season fish with salt, pepper, cumin and paprika. Heat up a pan on med-high heat. Melt some butter and swirl a bit of extra virgin olive oil in hot pan. Once butter foams up and subsides, add 2-3 fillets of fish and fry for a few minutes on each side. Sole fillets are quite thin, so this shouldn’t take long. Remove cooked fish to a plate and continue frying remaining fish in batches.
- Lay out the taco components and toppings on the table and enjoy!
Notes
More topping ideas: green onions, mangoes, pineapples, corn, black beans, cheese, etc
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