Fish Tacos

Fish tacoooooo

Recipe First, then bitching. And there is some.

Out of this recipe, I decided to do fish tacos the other night, since we had tilapia needed using. Quarantine life(Aka wtf do I do with this), I had to work around the “limited lime juice/no limes in the house” handicap.

For the slaw:

  • 1 1/2 limes, zested and juiced
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons avocado or canola oil (I used canola oil)
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage (about a 1/2 small head of cabbage)
  • 5 radishes, cut into matchsticks (3/4 cup of matchsticks) (also did not have)
  • 1/4 cup minced red onion
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro (or this)
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced (had a less spicy jalapeno. I think I would do two next time)

For the crema:

  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • Juice from 1/2 lime
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (actually added half a teaspoon of cumin and salt)
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For the fish:

  • 1 1/2 pounds skinless cod fillets (tilapia)
  • 1 lime
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cornmeal (did not have, so just based out of flour)
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 cup whole milk, heavy cream, or buttermilk
  • 4 cups high heat oil, such as canola oil
  • 10 small (5-inch) flour tortillas, street taco style

Make the slaw and crema: Zest both limes, then slice in half. In a medium bowl, add lime zest and lime juice from 1 1/2 limes, honey, oil, salt, and black pepper. Whisk to combine. Add the cabbage, radishes, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño pepper. Toss to combine. Set aside.

To make the crema, stir together sour cream, juice from the remaining lime half, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, and salt. If the crema seems top thick, you can always thin it with a little milk or additional lime juice. Set it aside.

Prepare to fry: Line a platter with paper towels to drain the fish after you fry it.

Prepare the fish and breading: Zest the lime and put the zest on a medium plate, add the flour, cornmeal, paprika, salt, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Set it aside.

On another medium plate, add the milk, and juice from half of the lime. The milk will thicken and look slightly curdled.

Cut the fillets on the bias (a diagonal cut) into strips about 1 inch thick, season them with the juice from the remaining lime half, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bread the fish: While you’re waiting for the oil to come up to temperature, dip the fish in the milk, then coat it in the flour, spice, and cornmeal mixture. Bread all of the fish before you begin to fry it.

Fry the fish: Once all the fish is breaded, gently place the fish one piece at a time in the hot oil. Depending upon the size of your Dutch oven, you can probably fry 4 to 6 pieces at a time.

So legitimately, I think this was a pretty good trial run for a first time trying this!

But I have a few personal preference quibbles.

First off; Fuck trying to shred cabbage. Have you tried it? I know I’m hilariously bad at uniform slicing (although not as bad as some people would imply). It’s a fuckin pain. It’s an incredibly woody vegetable and I am salty it took body weight to cut it open. Argh. Headdesk forever.

Second, add more cumin. you’ll thank me. I swear. (Also milk with like, a tablespoon of lemon juice will curdle and work as a substitute of buttermilk. Would recommend a longer soak in it)

Final bitch: I’m not a fan of “fill a whole dutch oven up with oil to fry.”
It creates more oil waste and is more of a pain to deal with and since I’m so smart I dipped a fucking fingertip into boiling oil, clearly I want to work with more.

Ahem.

I used a cast iron and it worked fine. The more you know y’all.