Dinner Tonight: Pan-Fried Fish Tacos with White Sauce
I've been a fan of fried fish tacos for a long time. Rolled in flour tortillas and dressed with little more than a tangy white sauce and crunchy sliced cabbage, they are unbelievably tasty. I wish I didn't have to fry the fish, but that technique just works better. Something about grilled fish gets lots in tacos. It becomes mushy and disintegrates in the taco. Fried fish keeps its structure.
Unfortunately, deep-frying is best left for the weekends. It's just hard to waste that much time getting enough oil, bringing it to the right temperature, and then figuring out what to do with it when it is done. Could pan-frying work?
I used the same flour, egg, and panko dip as from my Eggplant Parmesan and then cooked the fish in just a little oil in a skillet. Though it doesn't have the excellent batter that the best fish tacos have, it's awfully close.
About the author: Nick Kindelsperger is a freelance writer in Chicago. He is the co-founder of The Paupered Chef and spends most of his time playing with the new cooking gadgets he got from his wedding.
Pan-Fried Fish Tacos with White Sauce
- serves 3 to 4 -
For the white sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
Juice of 1 or 2 limes
Salt and pepper
For the fish tacos:
1 cup flour
1/2 red cabbage, sliced thinly
2 eggs
1 cup Panko
1 pound tilapia
1/2 cup canola oil
12 flour tortillas
Procedure
1. Mix together the mayonnaise, yogurt, oregano, cumin, and dill. Mix in the juice of 1 of the limes and taste. If it is not acidic enough add some of the second lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Dump the flour into a bowl. Whisk together the two eggs in a second bowl. Pour the Panko into a third bowl along with a pinch of salt.
3. Cut the Tilapia into 1 inch strips. Dry them as much as you can. Dip each piece first into the flour shaking the excess off, then into the egg, and finally coat in panko. Set finished ones on a wire rack while you dip the rest.
4. Meanwhile, pour the oil into a large skillet over medium heat. When it is hot, add enough fish to cover, but no more. Cook until golden browned, about 2 minutes per side. Set in an oven set on 200 while you finish the rest of the fish. It took me about 3 batches to pan fry all the fish.
5. Warm up some tortillas by cooking them for a few seconds on a dry iron skillet set over high heat. Serve with the white sauce and the sliced red cabbage.
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17 Comments:
Try some catsup in the sauce, you'll thank me.
tinytim at 4:49PM on 02/11/09
You got to use corn tortilla, not flour tortilla. Flour tortilla adds an inherent heaviness to this delightful dish.
Aytunc at 5:33PM on 02/11/09
Wow! These sound great! Can't wait to try them!
Martini Me at 5:42PM on 02/11/09
aytunc: Thanks for calling me out! I usually do prefer corn tortillas, but since these are more of a Northern Mexican dish I went with flour tortillas. This is the first time in years (probably 2) that I've bought flour tortillas. And now you are making me feel bad. There is a great chowhound post talking about when to use flour or corn. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/452837
There is the very generic "north eats flour tortillas, south likes corn", but they go a little deeper and explain why there are the differences. I think it definitely comes down to personal preference, though I think that in some dishes, especially this one, the flour tortilla really does a better job.
Nick Kindelsperger at 5:55PM on 02/11/09
I used to work at a place that did amazing fish tacos -- with red cabbage, just like you did. I miss them, so I'm glad I saw your recipe!
They looked so pretty on the plate - golden crunchy fish, purple cabbage, some lime wedges on the side.
prestocaro at 6:03PM on 02/11/09
I just made fish tacos with homemade white sauce last week. Love love love.
However, maybe it's because I live in SoCal, but I have to disagree with the flour tortilla assessment. I like flour at times, but not with this. Just lightly warm/fry the corn ones in a bit of oil and they hold up as well as the flour and taste far, far better with the fish.
alosha7777 at 6:24PM on 02/11/09
Hi all,
Fish tacos are definitely a delicacy. I know it's not authentic by any means, but I really enjoy blackened fish with a good spicy rub on my fish tacos. Corn is the way to go with fish to weigh in on the debate.
brhelm at 6:50PM on 02/11/09
Place where I used to live made amazing white sauce for their fish tacos. A little lime juice and some chipotle puree. Sooo good. Have to have that sauce on my fish tacos (or anything else I eat there, for that matter).
amanda0730 at 7:01PM on 02/11/09
For fish tacos, I rub my tilapia with a bit of hot sauce, salt and pepper before double breading then pan-frying.
I do a similar thing with tilapia by rubbing it with Sriracha and ginger-garlic paste (found in Indian grocery stores) then double-breading and pan frying. Really great appetizer. Heck, I sometimes eat it as a meal.
inothernews at 7:36PM on 02/11/09
These look like something Toby Young won't call "cat food" in an effort to be clever.
I don't really feel flour tortillas will make it heavy or that the dish would be better with corn tortillas. The flour probably holds together better too.
wunami at 8:39PM on 02/11/09
I can't wait to try these. I just made "regular" grilled fish tacos and found that exact problem, the taste of the fish disappeared completely. Thanks!
evemis at 11:43AM on 02/12/09
The white sauce that street vendors in northern Mexico offer on their fish tacos - - particularly in Baja California, where the fish taco as we know it is widely believed to have originated - - is often nothing more elaborate than mayonnaise cut with water or lime juice. The mayo and yogurt blend indeed works well, though.
As for the tortillas, although I spent years eating fish tacos in Southern California and Baja California on corn tortillas, I think flour tortillas are great, too. Don't be an "authenticity" freak; even many Mexicans like flour tortillas.
Lorenzo at 12:10PM on 02/12/09
I've made fish tacos a few times.
But last week I did not have much time, so instead I made tilapia, avocado, and tomato sandwich. It was really good!
orchidgirl at 12:19PM on 02/12/09
I use mesa corn meal to coat my fish for frying and then use a flour tortilla. I also use a firmer fish than tilapia, gulf grouper works nice. Can't get enough.
deltaslim at 9:41PM on 02/24/09
I made this the other nice and it was amazing! I added some cayenne to the white sauce and used trader joe's whole wheat tortillas. One of the best meals I have ever made. Yum!!
giantpinkdot at 12:37PM on 04/14/09
I made this the other nice and it was amazing! I added some cayenne to the white sauce and used trader joe's whole wheat tortillas. One of the best meals I have ever made. Yum!!
giantpinkdot at 12:38PM on 04/14/09
you can puree jalapenos in adobo sauce with mayo and ketchup for a fine fish taco sauce. Add a few slices of avocado to the taco too, and then thank me quietly....
darly gross at 1:03PM on 08/25/09