I have to admit, I’ve never had a fish taco before now. Or maybe once, but it obviously wasn’t memorable. I’ve always shied away from fish tacos. They just sound weird. Fish? In a taco? With shredded cheese and salsa? No thank you.
Well, fish tacos, at least these fish tacos are not made with shredded cheese (or shredded lettuce for that matter), or salsa.
And they taste delicious. Replace that lettuce with cabbage, and trade that salsa for a creamy, spicy remoulade. Voila! A tasty, healthy (except for the sour cream and mayonnaise…) alternative to traditional beef tacos. I may never eat a “normal” taco again!
Ingredients
-1- 1 1/2lb haddock or cod filets (skin on), or frozen tilapia fillets, thawed (or if fresh-fresh fish is available, blue fish or flounder work nicely as well)
-1 small head purple cabbage, thinly sliced
-1 package of small flour tortillas
-home-grown cherry tomatoes, diced
-limes
Marinade
-1/4 cup olive oil
-1 TBS white vinegar
-2 TBS lime juice
-1 1/2 teaspoon honey
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1/2 teaspoon cumin
-1/2 teaspoon chili powder
-1 teaspoon Old Bay
-1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
-1 teaspoon Tabasco (or hot sauce of your choice)
Remoulade
-1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
-1/2 cup mayonnaise (reduced fat if you like)
-1/4 teaspoon cayenne
-1/4 teaspoon chili powder
-1/2 teaspoon cumin
-1 teaspoon dried dill
-1 teaspoon oregano
-1/2 teaspoon capers, drained and minced
-1 home-grown jalapeño pepper, minced (or hot pepper of your choice)
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
Preparation
The fish needs to marinate for 6-8 hours. (I don’t recommend marinating over-night. The acid in the marinade can cause the fish to start to break down and become mealy.)
To save time, prepare the marinade the night before. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate.
The next morning (as you’re getting ready for work), put whole fish filets in a plastic bag with the marinade; toss them in the fridge.
If you have time, go ahead and make the remoulade the night before, too. (This will give the flavours plenty of time to meld.)
Simply mix ingredients together; place in air-tight container; refrigerate.
Cook
Pre-heat grill on high (I cooked on gas.) Remove fish from marinade. (Shake a little to remove excess liquid.) Place fish on grill skin side up for 5 minutes; flip and cook for 4 more minutes. Flesh should be opaque and flaky. Remove from heat. Either flake fish with a fork, or cut filets in half. (Either way will fit in your taco.)
On medium-high, heat 2 TBS of peanut or canola oil. Brown tortillas until lightly brown and crispy.
I layered my tacos like this: cabbage-sauce-fish-little more sauce-tomatoes-more sauce. Serve with lime wedge.
Eat. Repeat. 🙂
For you cilantro lovers (I personally can’t stand the stuff), I suppose it would be reasonably OK if you added a few sprigs to your taco… (but they really don’t need it.)
Recipe Source: Marinade: adapted from Allrecipes.com; Remoulade: adapted from SoupAddict.com
I am soooooo looking forward to these for lunch today!!!