Fish tacos were one of the staples of my diet during my five years of college in San Diego. In truth, It wasn’t difficult falling in love with them, mainly due to the fact that they are served on just about every street corner. And, even though I no longer live in San Diego, my love affair with fish tacos continues to this day.
The only difference from my college years is that now I tend to eat most of my fish tacos at home instead of out, and with this change, I have found one issue with the typical way in which they are prepared. I’m talking about the reality that the fish is often deep-fried! Now don’t get me wrong, I love fried foods, but deep frying foods at home is a hassle. Not only do you have to use up a lot of oil, but cleaning up the mess and then properly discarding the used oil makes the whole thing more trouble than it’s worth. That’s why I learned early on that the best way to prepare fish tacos at home is to pan-fry the fish, which is the recipe I am going to share with you folks today.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- While you can use whatever fish you want, I personally recommend that you use tilapia. I am not saying that tilapia is the best-tasting fish for your tacos, but it is one of the cheapest. And trust me when I say that you are going to want to make these for a crowd. But whatever fish you decide to purchase, just make sure to get it skinless.
- When it comes to the tortilla I recommend that you use corn instead of flour. I have seen both used in a number of places, but corn tends to be the more traditional option. Also if you do opt for the corn tortillas, then as always I suggest that you use two tortillas for each taco, as it will help to make it more stable. No one likes to bite into a taco and have everything fall apart.
- I highly recommend that you go out of your way to make the proper garnishes for the taco, such as pico de gallo, and chipotle cream sauce. They might add a little more time to your preparations, but they are the things that truly make a fish taco great.
Pan-Fried Fish Tacos Recipe
Prep time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Servings: Roughly 8 tacos
Ingredients
4 Tilapia fillets (or whatever fish you wish to use)
White corn tortillas
½ Head of cabbage (thinly sliced)
2-3 Limes (quartered into wedges)
2 Bunches of cilantro (roughly minced)
2 Tablespoons of chili powder
1 Tablespoon of salt
1 Tablespoon of ground cumin
2 Tablespoons of cider vinegar
Neutral flavored oil (like canola, or vegetable)
Optional garnishes:
Instructions:
- Wash & spice the fish: First make sure to wash each piece of fish with fresh water, and then pad them dry with a paper towel. Next add the chili powder, ground cumin, and salt into a bowl, and mix all three ingredients together. Then dust each side of each piece of fish with the spice mixture and make sure to gently rub it into the flesh of the fish with your hands.
- Make the cabbage topping: Thoroughly wash the cabbage and slice it in half, save the other half for another day. Then cut that half in half again so that you have two-quarters of cabbage. Take out the hard stem from the bottoms of each of the two-quarters of cabbage, and then slice each one into thin strips.
Place the strips into a large bowl, add the cider vinegar to it, and toss it up until each strip of cabbage is lightly coated in vinegar.
- Heat the tortillas on a skillet than then set them aside on a plate covered with paper towels.
- Cook the fish: Get out a large skillet and add enough oil until it lightly covers the bottom of the pan. Put this skillet over high heat, and add each filet of fish once the pan has become hot. If you have decided to double this recipe, then I recommend that you cook the fish in batches, as overcrowding your skillet with fish will result in them not browning up correctly. Cook each filet on the first side for three minutes, then take a spatula and flip them all over to cook on the other side for an additional three minutes.
Once each filet has cooked for six minutes, take them off the skillet and place them onto a plate. It is at this point that I then find it best to divide each filet into smaller pieces so that they fit better into the tortillas. To do this simply take your spatula and cut the fillets of fish into pieces that are about an inch in size.
- Assemble the tacos: To assemble the taco take two of the warmed tortillas, and place a small handful of the fish in the middle. Then cover the fish with some of the cabbage, and cilantro, along with the optional pico de gallo, and chipotle cream sauce in that order. Serve it with a wedge of lime to be squeezed over top before eating.
Pan Fried Fish Tacos Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 Tilapia fillets or whatever fish you wish to use
- White corn tortillas
- ½ Head of cabbage thinly sliced
- 2-3 Limes quartered into wedges
- 2 Bunches of cilantro roughly minced
- 2 Tablespoons of chili powder
- 1 Tablespoon of salt
- 1 Tablespoon of ground cumin
- 2 Tablespoons of cider vinegar
- Neutral flavored oil like canola, or vegetable
Optional garnishes:
- Pico de gallo
- Chipotle cream sauce
Instructions
- Wash & spice the fish: First make sure to wash each piece of fish with fresh water, and then pad them dry with a paper towel. Next add the chili powder, ground cumin, and salt into a bowl, and mix all three ingredients together. Then dust each side of each piece of fish with the spice mixture and make sure to gently rub it into the flesh of the fish with your hands.
- Make the cabbage topping: Thoroughly wash the cabbage and slice it in half, save the other half for another day. Then cut that half in half again so that you have two-quarters of cabbage. Take out the hard stem from the bottoms of each of the two-quarters of cabbage, and then slice each one into thin strips. Place the strips into a large bowl, add the cider vinegar to it, and toss it up until each strip of cabbage is lightly coated in vinegar.
- Heat the tortillas
- Cook the fish: Get out a large skillet and add enough oil until it lightly covers the bottom of the pan. Put this skillet over high heat, and add each filet of fish once the pan has become hot. If you have decided to double this recipe, then I recommend that you cook the fish in batches, as overcrowding your skillet with fish will result in them not browning up correctly. Cook each filet on the first side for three minutes, then take a spatula and flip them all over to cook on the other side for an additional three minutes. Once each filet has cooked for six minutes, take them off the skillet and place them onto a plate. It is at this point that I then find it best to divide each filet into smaller pieces so that they fit better into the tortillas. To do this simply take your spatula and cut the fillets of fish into pieces that are about an inch in size.
- Assemble the tacos: To assemble the taco take two of the warmed tortillas, and place a small handful of the fish in the middle. Then cover the fish with some of the cabbage, and cilantro, along with the optional pico de gallo, and chipotle cream sauce in that order. Serve it with a wedge of lime to be squeezed over top before eating.
Inspiration from other blogs
From Simply Recipes
From Food & Wine
