What to Cook for Dinner Tonight: Fish Tacos
So, I was leery of the whole “exotic tacos” idea to begin with. Sure, fish tacos are not so much wacky and out-of-the-ordinary in the Southwest, but in the Southeast, they’re just starting to make some popularity headway. Yes, ladies and gentlemen from parts unSouthern, there is more to Georgia than Atlanta, and in most parts of that great state (and Alabama, and Mississippi, and Tennessee…), tacos are ground beef, cheese and Rotel diced tomatoes in a crispy, yellow shell.
I, despite having lived in Texas more than anywhere else as a young person, had not experienced much in the way of seafood-based Mexican cuisine until a few months ago. Upon my triumphant return to the land of the Lone Star, I had a delicious shrimp feast featuring camarón over rice in an amazing sauce that was unmistakably Mexican. But I shied away from mixing seafood with taco shells (or corn chips, for that matter) until very recently.
Don’t repeat my mistake. Go ahead, dive in – the tacos are delicious.
You can make them with grilled fish, baked or fried. And you won’t want to stop at fish. Try shrimp, fried oysters – this is another dish that lends itself well to experimentation. As we noted in the past, tacos are incredibly versatile and so easy to make that they almost demand you give them creative flair.
Some tips for making the most of your fish taco experience:
• Choose a firm variety of fish. Good choices include halibut, red snapper, striped bass, grouper, mahi-mahi, sturgeon, and swordfish.
• Grill your fish filets whole, and then gently pull the cooked fish apart. Too much poking, prodding and stirring, in an attempt to break the fish apart during the cooking process, can leave you with a gummy mess.
• You’ll still need to choose flavorings that work well with fish, but you can experiment with spice – chile and lime is a popular combination that seems to work extremely well.
We recommend: Dean Fearing’s Barbecue Shrimp Tacos with Mango-Pickled Red Onion Salad
Happy eating!
