Fish Tacos

Here is the perfect excuse for to try out my faux corn tortilla recipe from last week. Fish tacos are a healthy, quick and flavorful meal, ideal for hot summer evenings. In Texas, where you can buy fresh corn tortillas at every supermarket and don’t have to prepare them yourself, my family makes fish tacos at least once a week. While making the tortillas from scratch is a bit more time-consuming than ripping open a package, the end result is well worth the extra work. Ideally, these would be served with a chipotle mayonnaise sauce, but I have included the recipe for an alternative chili-lime mayo as well, since chipotle peppers can be hard to come across in Italy.

Fish Tacos

• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• About 1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chile powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, plus more for garnish
• 1 jalapeño, stemmed and chopped
• 1 pound flaky white fish (such as mahi mahi or cod), cut into 4 pieces
• Salt
• 8 fresh corn tortillas, warm
• 2 cups shredded red or green cabbage
• 2 limes, cut into quarters
• chipotle mayonnaise or chili-lime mayonnaise (recipes below)

Serves 4

Put the onion in a shallow dish and cover with red wine vinegar. Set aside for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 weeks.

Place fish in one layer in a wide dish and sprinkle with the chile powder, oregano, cumin, chopped cilantro, and jalapeño. Pour the olive oil over the fish and coat well on both sides. Allow to marinate for 20 minutes.

Prepare the chipotle or chili-lime mayonnaise sauce (recipe below) and chill in the refrigerator.

Heat a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Remove the fish from the marinade and cook in the hot pan for about 4 minutes, sprinkle with salt, then turn over and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, taste for seasoning and add more salt if necessary. Separate flakes of fish with a fork and remove any spines. Set aside.

Warm the tortillas, wrapped in a clean dish towel in the microwave or oven.

Assemble the tacos with the fish, marinated onions, shredded cabbage and a spoonful of chipotle mayonnaise. Garnish with lime wedges and cilantro sprigs.

Chipotle Mayonnaise

• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• a pinch of ground cumin
• 1/2 of one canned chipotle chile, plus a teaspoon of sauce

Blend together all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Chill until ready to serve.

Chili-lime Mayonnaise

• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• a pinch of ground cumin
• 1 tsp finely grated lime zest
• 1 tsp freshly-squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Chill until ready to serve.