Fish Tacos!

ayooooooo! Im back, and with a fabulous summer recipe; not that it couldn't work all year long too :) Today we're going to be making fish tacos with a mango relish, and a chile verde sauce. I know it sounds like a lot, but take a deep breath because really, its not as hard as it sounds at all. It will however, take about an hour to get it all done since there is a lot of cutting and you'll have to roast the peppers before making the sauce. However, if you prepare everything the night before, and just cook the fish the day you want to have the dish, this could potentially be a great meal to have after a day at work. Okay, enough talking, lets get going!

First, you want to wash your peppers, I chose anaheim peppers, which is a member of the chile verde family. I charred them in the oven at, I believe, 350 until they turn black on the outside. Then, you want to toss them all into a paper bag for a minute or so in order to steam them. This will all make the process of removing their skin easier. It will also soften them which will help make the meat of the pepper softer, so it's easier to make into a sauce.

Once they have been charred, you want to remove the skins, stems, and seeds. They should look something like the above picture once you've done this.

This is going to be the mixing agent that we'll be combining with the peppers. This will be perfect because, although these peppers aren't anything near as hot as some of the other varieties out there, they still have some heat to them. This will help balance it out giving you the flavor of the pepper, without overpowering the palate with heat to the point where you don't get the awesome flavor of the pepper.

Blend the peppers up at fine as possible, then add a dollop or two of sour cream as you go. You don't want it to be too creamy so make sure you add it in small amounts as you go. Then, I added some fresh scallions, parsley, and cilantro in order to make the flavors a little bit more complex. This will also help the after taste be more than just heat, but rather flavor with some heat.

Once you're done it should look something like the above picture.

Now, time for the relish! Your knife skills will be impeccable by the time you're done with this dish. First, dice up a red onion. Remember to use the trick I taught you in the pizza entry's onion video in order to save time. See, its all full circle now ;)

Next, chop up some mango. What do you know, theres also a video for how to cut a mango on the pizza entry. I couldn't have planned for it to work out this well :)

Then, chop up 2 avocados. A tip for avocados, in order to prevent them from oxidizing, or turning brown, if you're only going to use half of it. In order to preserve the remaining half, keep the pit in there and drizzle it with a little bit of lemon or lime juice. The pit physically prevents it from oxidizing, while the acidic juices freeze the actual enzymes that oxidize.

Next, dice up some red bell pepper.

Now, you guessed it, chop up some tomato.

Next, add the juice of one lime to the bowl. 

Add some fresh chopped parsley, too. I also added a can of black beans figuring it would add to the southwestern type flare we have going on here. I have never added them before but it was nice to have a textural change in there, as well as to add some protein.

I also peeled a lime and took out some of the pulp and added it to the bowl. A quick tip; if you can see on the right hand side of the lime, there is a thin white, almost paper looking thing that separates the slices. That is the membrane of the lime and it has two layers. If you cut so that the membrane is attached to the piece of lime, the amount of juice you'll get out if that slice is going to be decreased immensely. Therefore, cut around it.

It should look something like this once its all been stirred together.

Also shred some cabbage up. This takes the place of lettuce in a typical mexican taco.

Now, onto the fish. I chose to use tilapia because it is a firm white fish, which comes in handy when you're cooking for this dish. Although you will be cutting it into chunks after its cooked, its just easier to be in control of the size rather than having it fall apart on you and become shredded. You can find tilapia at any basic fish market, as well as the fish counter at your local grocery store. Season the filets with salt and pepper on both sides.

I decided to grill mine, but put a piece of aluminum foil on the grates of the grill in order to avoid direct heat to the filets. Flip over half way through the cooking process. You'll know that they're done when you can stick a fork in the filet and it flakes.

Then, just cut the filets into chunks. 

Now, assemble the taco and you are finished! Layer it fish, then relish, a little bit of shredded cabbage, and some chile sauce. You can also add a little bit of shredded cheese, which adds a nice touch. Definitely try this recipe and let me know how you like it in the comments below!

Until next time, 

K