Fish Tacos, oh yeah.

I know I haven't posted in forever and lots of good stuff hasn't made it on here - like the Red and Green Tomato tart with gluten-free crust that I made with the last of the green 'maters from my garden. Or the Pumpkin Pie Bars I made recently - so dope. But you know, I'm busy and this is the best I can do. However, you can bet that what I do actually take the time to post on here is worth your while and that certainly applies to this fish taco recipe. Oh. My. Word. As Jaques Lacan (French linguisic theorist) would say, words are inadequate to describe how good these tacos are.

A little back story: I recently watched an episode of Throw Down with Bobby Flay that was a match-up against this guy in San Diego who is awesome at making fish tacos. I learned about how traditional fish tacos are usually paired with some version of Mexican slaw - which is cabbage-based but not swimming in mayo like American slaw is. There is usually some sort of salsa and the fish are usually fried. On the show, Bobby Flay grilled his fish (I think he went with ahi tuna) and the dude (who won) used fried catfish. So, I drove home from Maryland last Sunday with a cooler full of fish. Wild Copper River salmon, swordfish, two rock fish (striped bass to the rest of the world) filets, some ahi, and some flounder. (Oh and some Gold Selecta Shrimp which will get boiled with pickling spice and shared with someone special and lucky because there isn't much.) When I got home at 11:30, I sat on the couch to decompress by (what else?) watching the Food Network and that episode was on again. I knew immediately that I needed to use some of my lovely bounty to try my hand at fish tacos. After some recipe searching, I went with the rock fish. Recipe is below. I used some store-bought salsa that I really like, called Herdez, but the salsa is one way you can change the recipe easily and home-made salsa is really easy to make. I was thinking a fruit salsa and avocado or guac would be good variations for the future. And the slaw? Holy crap. I stood in my kitchen and ate a ton of the slaw by itself because it is flippin' delicious. And don't be intimidated by the idea of frying fish at home. It's super easy - though it will most definitely make your kitchen smell like fried if you don't have an exhaust fan. Enjoy!

Rock Fish Tacos with Mexican Slaw

2 tablespoons masa harina
¼ teaspoon pure chile powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
4 4-ounce skinned and boned rockfish fillets (or any firm white fish)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Canola oil, for frying
6 ounces thinly sliced green cabbage
4 ounces thinly sliced red cabbage (actually, I bought one of the bags of shredded red and green cabbage with carrot in it too and used about 3/4 of the bag, shameless)
2 ounces thinly sliced red onion (or to taste - remember it's raw so if you don't like raw onion, go light)
¼ cup minced cilantro
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (I used one lime)
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil


Mix together the masa harina, chile powder, and garlic powder in a large, shallow dish. Season the fillets generously with salt and pepper. Dip into the masa harina mixture to coat and shake off any excess. Add enough canola oil to a large, heavy nonstick frying pan to come to a depth of 1/8 inch. Heat over medium heat until a pinch of the masa harina mixture sizzles immediately when added. Add the fillets skinned side up and fry without disturbing for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Using a spatula, turn the fillets and fry another 1 to 2 minutes, or until cooked through and golden brown.

Meanwhile, toss together the green cabbage, red cabbage, onion, cilantro, lime juice, and olive oil in a large bowl and season to taste with salt. Remove the fillets to a paper towel-lined plate and drain for about a minute. Arrange the fillets on individual plates, divide the slaw among them, drizzle with the salsa, and serve immediately.

I like soft corn tortillas for this but you can use flour tortillas or chrunchy taco shells if you prefer. It's all the yums, as far as I'm concerned.

Original recipe from Hungry Cravings.