Fish Tacos
So let’s say you checked out our guide to being a sustainable seafood consumer, sourced some sustainable catch, and now have some beautiful fish/shellfish/crustaceans. There are a million ways to cook them, but what better way to enjoy the summer and the people you’re with than a taco station.
FISH TACOS. Dare I say (dare me!) the ultimate hand-held summer food (ok that’s a pretty niche category). They do truly have everything. Rich umami from cooked fish, brightness from acids and herbs, crisp crunchiness from the veg and other accoutrements, creaminess from sauces (and maybe avocados), warmth and chew from a hot tortilla. What more do you want?!?
Now, we’ll be laying out a recipe for our ideal fish tacos, BUT, we encourage you to consider the following check boxes for our ultimate fish tacos and riff as needed/desired:
Hot tortillas (corn or flour, just give em’ a quick charr over an open flame)
Fish (obviously)
Crisp vegetables, finely chopped (like tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, etc.)
A Creamy Sauce (like Mexican crema, mayonnaise, aioli, etc.)
Fresh herbs (like cilantro, parsley)
Acid (from citrus fruit like limes, or vinegars)
The Taco is food that has been riffed on more times than we can begin to imagine, and has grown to incorporate ingredients and preparations influenced by the furthest reaches of our planet. That said, we can’t allow its traditional roots to be forgotten! The Taco is a Mexican tradition that predates Spanish colonization. Utilizing the incredibly diverse and flavorful array of corn/maize species found and grown throughout Mexico, the traditional masa (a dough made from pulverized corn/maize) was pressed into tortillas as a delicious vessel for fish and spiced meats. In keeping with our responsibility to keep this history and tradition alive, we encourage you to support chef’s and producers working to spread and amplify their heritage and traditions. Producers like @three_sisters_nixtamal are creating products that highlight these traditions and support Mexican farmers who are working to revitalize the incredibly diverse population of corn/maize that has been often overlooked. Additionally, chef’s like @chefricardomunoz and @enriqueolveraf have worked tirelessly throughout their careers to not only propagate the tradition of Mexican cuisine, but to allow it to continue to grow and be recognized for the versatile, complex, and forward-looking cuisine that it is.
Check out our recipe below!
Yield : ~10 Tacos
Ingredients
¾ lb Fish/Shellfish/Crustacean: for this recipe, we used 1 Bluefish fillet, and ½ lb of Shrimp
½ Avocado
10 Softshell Taco Tortillas
1 cup Shredded Lettuce/Cabbage
½ cup diced tomatoes: cherry tomatoes are preferred
1 lime: cut into wedges
½ Jalapeno Pepper: thinly sliced with seeds
½ Red Onion: diced
½ cup Chimichurri: check out the linked recipe!
¼ cup Vegan Mayonnaise: we love Sir Kensington’s
¼ cup of freshly chopped herbs: Cilantro, parsley, oregano, and mint are preferred.
Preparation:
Prepare your chimichurri, jar and refrigerate until use.
Prepare all of your vegetables (lettuce/cabbage, tomatoes, jalapeno, red onion, avocado, and herbs), and store in the refrigerator
Cook your fish. For the bluefish fillet, I placed the fillet, skin-side down (the skin had already been descaled by the fisherman when I bought it) on a parchment-lined baking tray with 1 tbsp of neutral oil, and cooked for 8 minutes at 375. For the shrimp, I shelled and deveined them (pulled the exterior shell off, then used the edge of a small paring knife to pull out the blue string you’ll see along the shrimp’s back, its it’s intestinal tract), then tossed them in 1 tbsp of neutral oil, 1 tsp of salt, and grilled them for roughly 3 minutes on each side on a grill-pan on medium heat (you’ll want to pull them from the pan once both sides have turned orange/pink and have very light browning).
While your fish is cooling, take your tortillas and, one at a time, hold them with a pair of tongs over an open flame (on your stove top, you can also heat them in a pan if you don’t have access to an open flame) until they develop many small black and brown spots (be careful, it can be easy to charr them by accident).
ASSEMBLY! Have fun, do your thing, get wild. Our preferred assembly? Warm tortilla down-> spread a small spoonful of vegan mayo over the tortilla-> add a small handful of your shredded lettuce/cabbage-> add a couple slivers of avocado-> add a portion of your fish-> sprinkle the tomatoes, onions, and jalapeno on top-> drizzle on a small spoonful of chimichurri-> sprinkle on some herbs-> finish with a squeeze of lime
Best Practices:
As always:
Avoid packaged produce, or really anything packaged for that matter. This is not to say that you’ll always have the option, but when you do, go for it! For example, you may sometimes see jalapenos in plastic wrapping, avocados in a plastic mesh, or lettuce in plastic bags. These are all very often available sans any container, so take the opportunity to use your hands, smell the produce, build that relationship with your ingredients!
Try to bring your own bags when you go shopping for these ingredients
Make sure you’re not buying more than you think you’ll reasonably use! Ingredients like the fish, tomatoes, jalapenos, and lettuce will not last very long, so make sure you buy with care! However, ingredients like tortillas and red onion can last a long time in your pantry (but not forever), so if you buy more than you need, you’ll likely have plenty of other opportunities to use them.
These ingredients have been chosen with several things in mind:
Most of these ingredients are household staples that are relatively inexpensive and last a long time. If you don’t already have vegan mayonnaise, tortillas, or red onions, these are amazing staples in any pantry and can add so much flavor to any number of recipes/dishes.
Did you enjoy this recipe? Let us know! If you really loved it, share it on social media and tag us (@groundedgrub), or, better yet, share it with your friends and family!