Easy Fish Tacos

A few weeks ago my Standard-Examiner column featured easy fish tacos.

Vacations offer a chance to check out new restaurants and flavors. But when my family travels, food is sort of incidental, it’s usually not the focus of our trip.

My husband and stumbled upon Wahoo’s  during a recent trip to Southern California. We were driving through Laguna Beach on the Pacific Coach Highway. Kim was in the mood for seafood, and I wanted something casual and healthy, with an ocean view.

Somehow, Wahoo’s managed to hit all those criteria. Known for fish tacos, it has the charm of a local surf-shack. But it’s actually fast-casual chain that began in Southern California in 1988, and now has locations in six other states and Japan.

The menu has a lot of mix-and-match options similar to the way Café Rio, Rumbi Island Grill, or Costa Vida operate, where you can choose a protein (chicken, braised pork, carne asada steak, shrimp, fish or tofu) and build on that. One difference: there’s no assembly line where you watch the food being made. You just place your order and find a seat. We found one on the outdoor patio, with a view of the  beach and ocean.

Kim ordered a Salmon Bowl, featuring grilled salmon fillet over a bed of rice, with citrus slaw.

Being carb-mindful, I asked for a grilled fish bowl with extra citrus slaw instead of the rice. I liked the slaw, with its clean, crisp flavors of lime and cilantro.

Often when restaurants serve fish tacos, the fish is deep-fried, and the resulting tacos are often greasy and heavy. In this case, the large pieces of moist, white fish had beautiful grill marks.  I asked about the spicy pink aioli that came with Kim’s salmon, and some of the other sauces. Due to our language barrier, I never really found out what was in them; I just sampled and used what I liked.

Back home, I tinkered with a simplified version of fish tacos. They aren’t Wahoo’s copycats, but they are are delicious in their own right. And so easy to make! Just marinate the fish in a zip-lock bag before sautéing, to give it moistness and flavor. You could also grill the fish, but the sauté pan only took about 10 minutes.

The lime-and-cilantro flavored sauce takes a shortcut with ranch dressing; you could use mayonnaise if your prefer.  It serves as a light dressing for the slaw, as well as a condiment for the fish. You can get creative with the base recipe — adding chopped jalapeno for more heat, more chipotle chile for a smoky flavor, maybe a little cumin or chili powder — or whatever you prefer to complement the fish.

Easy Fish Tacos

Makes about 12 small tacos (2 tacos per person)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons green Tabasco sauce (or another favorite hot sauce)

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 to 1 1/2 pounds tilapia or other white fish (such as mahi mahi or cod)

12 small tortillas or taco shells

1/2 head green or purple cabbage, shredded (or a package of cole slaw mix)

Optional: Salsa, avocado slices, chopped tomato, shredded or crumbled cheese

Cilantro-Lime Sauce:

1 1/2 cups ranch dressing (or 1 cup of mayonnaise)

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1/4 cup lime juice

1 teaspoon lime zest (grate the outer skin of the lime, optional if using fresh lime juice)

1 tablespoon green Tabasco sauce, or 1 chopped chipotle chile in adobo sauce, or other hot sauce to taste

1. Mix the olive oil, chile powder, oregano, cumin, Tabasco sauce, salt, and lime juice in a gallon-size zippered plastic bag. Place the fish in the bag with the marinade, and seal.  Let the fish sit, refrigerated, for 30-60 minutes.
2. Make the Cilantro-Lime Sauce by mixing the sauce ingredients together. Taste, and add more seasonings if desired.
3. In a medium-size bowl, lightly toss about 1/2 cup of the sauce with the shredded cabbage. Reserve the rest of the sauce.
4. After the fish has marinated, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the fish from the bag and place in the skillet. (Because of the oil in the marinade, you don’t need to add any oil.) Discard the bag and marinade.

Cook the fish until golden brown on the bottom (about 5 minutes), then flip over to the other side and cook until second side is golden brown. The fish should be opaque and flake easily. Cut the fish in chunks.

5. Place a large spoonful of cabbage/slaw mixture in each taco shell or tortilla. Add two or three chunks of fish, and drizzle with a spoonful of the Cilantro-Lime Sauce.  Garnish with salsa, avocado or cheese if desired.  Makes 12 small tacos, or six servings.