Tilapia Tacos

I have to admit, I am not really a cooked fish person. Raw fish is one of my favorite foods...I could eat sushi all day every day...but for some reason, I am very picky about the cooked version. I will eat certain kinds of mild white fish if it is put in front of me, but it is never something I will actively choose off of a menu. In an effort to be more health-conscious and also expand my palette, I am trying to experiment with fish.

At the moment, that means that the fish I do eat is most likely covered with sauce. But it's a start, right? And the perfect recipe that combines very mild white fish + flavorful sauce = tacos! My one great memory with fish is of fish tacos. I was on the big island of Hawaii with my family a few years back and we heard about this taco truck that parks on this one secluded road. If I remember the name I will post it...anyways it was amaaazing. They used mahi mahi and it was perfect.

Here is my attempt at fish tacos. The market didn't have mahi mahi so I bought tilapia instead. First I made the salsa with tomatoes, white onion, lots of cilantro, a jalepeno, lime juice, garlic, salt, and pepper:Then I made the "pink sauce," more specifically in this case a chipotle crema. I bought a cup-sized container of creme fraiche (sour cream also works) and mixed in two tablespoons of pureed chipotle pepper in adobe paste. It tasted a little too smokey so I added some lime juice and mayonnaise to dilute it and then thicken it back up with a different taste.

As an alternative to breading and frying the fish, I coated the filets in a flour mixture. This way the fish doesn't fall apart as easily and has a somewhat crispy outer crust. Mix flour with lots of salt and pepper and whichever other spices go with the meal--we added some lemon pepper a touch of chipotle pepper powder.Let the fish sit for a few minutes so that the flour can soak in. Over medium heat, melt enough butter to coat the pan and pour olive oil on top of that. Before the oil and butter get too hot and start browning, put the fish in. Cook through until brown on both sides, about 3-5 minutes each. They should look like this:Almost done...serve with sliced cabbage dressed in lime juice (for the crunch factor), lime wedges, heated corn tortillas, and avocados if you're like me and obsessed with avocados.

The final product: A perfectly assembled taco! (use two tortillas to avoid total mayhem)

Stay tuned for more taco tales from the self-proclaimed taco afficionado of so-cal...

Nosher