Taco’s Bestest Most Awesomest Fish Tacos

What would a website with “taco” in its name be without a decent taco recipe? IMHO, it would be a pretty lame-ass website. So, without further ado, here is my own recipe for the best fish tacos you’ll ever eat! If after you try this recipe you think you can do better, I invite you to come over and show me how (but you best be ready to rumble, brutha! – or sistah!).

How I’d best describe this recipe is “Asian-Fusion Fish Tacos with Mango Pico, Asian Slaw, and Sriracha Aioli.” There are a lot of steps to make this happen, but the end result is worth it. But first, the ingredients needed:

Fish, Fish Marinade, and Accouterments:

• About 3x 6oz Cod Filets (Cut into about 1″ cubes)
• 1-2 Tablespoons of fresh grated/minced ginger (I use a zester to breakdown about a 1″ diameter by 2″ long piece of ginger)
• 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Mirin
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• About 1 Cup of Potato Starch (for deep frying)
• About 1-2 Cups Vegetable oil (also for deep frying)

Asian Slaw:

• about 4 Cups Sliced Taiwanese Cabbage (Slice and Chop to a slaw size you like)
• 1 Tablespoon White Miso Paste
• 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
• 1.5 teaspoons Rice Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• About 1 Tablespoon Roasted Sesame Seeds

Mango Pico:

• 1 Ripe Mango (diced into about 1/2″ cubes)
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Red Onion (I chop mine down to about 1/4″ bits)
• About 1 Cup Diced Tomatoes (also about 1/2″ cubes)
• About 1/4 Cup Chopped Taiwanese Basil
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Sriracha Aioli:

• About 3 Tablespoons Kewpie Mayo (Regular Mayo works too, but I like Kewpies flavour better)
• An equal amount of Sriracha to the Mayo (so about 3 Tablespoons)
• About 1 Tablespoon Sugar
• Juice Squeezed from 1/2 of a lemon

Tortillas:

I use about 9x 8″ diameter flour tortillas, but this recipe also works well with white corn tortillas.

Cookifying Instructions:

Let’s start by marinating the fish. I always start here because it’s logical. By the time the other steps are completed, there’s usually enough flavor on the fish to begin deep fryin’. To marinate, combine the ginger, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar in a small bowl and whisk together. Be sure to pat the fish dry before pouring the marinade over it (probably want to do this in bowl as it may make the counter top a bit messy if you don’t). Set aside and move on to making the slaw.

To make the slaw, we’ll follow a similar procedure. Combine the white miso paste, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and honey in a bowl, whisk together and pour over the cabbage. Mix well then mix-in the toasted sesame seeds. Set aside and move on to the pico.

Guess what? This is about the same drill as the other two. I know! freaking hard to believe that all ya have to do is combine the ingredients into a bowl and mix well. But for those of you who are more linear and still need the steps, combine the diced mango, chopped red onion, diced tomatoes, basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper into yet another bowl, gently mix well and set aside. Move on to the aioli.

Alright, here’s where it gets tricky! Haha! just kidding! combine the mayo, sriracha, sugar, and lemon juice in yet another bowl and stir that shit up! …Aaaaannnnd set it aside.

Now if you are some sort of freakin’ cookin’ machine and did all the aforementioned steps in less than 30 minutes, then take a 15-30 minute break because you really want the fish to have marinated for about an hour. 45 minutes is generally the least amount of time I let it marinate and 2 hours is generally the most. I know that you think I can do all this in 30 minutes being the Taco Supreme Being and all, but I may have had one or two too many tacos in my day and therefore currently move at a slower pace than I used to. If per chance you finished in 30 minutes, you can also use that extra 15 minutes to setup your assembly line. I really like using taco holders here because they look nice and I can assemble the tacos quickly and in an organized fashion (just like you would exit an airplane in the event of an emergency landing), but open face on a plate can be just as presentable.

Now for the fun part: FRYIN’! Start by prepping the tacos with a bed of the Asian slaw, that way you can move the fried fish quickly to the taco and then top with the pico and aioli (and server hot – “server” haha! nerd pun). dredge the fish in the potato starch just before frying. With this recipe, the marinade works with the potato starch to make the “batter.” So no need for egg or anything else. On my gas stove, I fry at medium to medium-high heat for about a minute to a minute and 20 seconds. Any more and you risk overcooking the fish, any less and it’s more of a sashimi (which is fine if you have that good quality of fish). You should end-up with a nice golden-brown and thin crispy crust with super tender and flavorful fish inside. let set on paper towels while you dredge and fry the next batch. Once the next batch is in the fryer, put about 4 fish nuggets on/in each taco and top with the mango pico and the sriracha aioli. I served this with a summer corn salad and lemon wedges… Enjoy!