Thread: Fish tacos

Julie Bove <[email protected]> wrote:

>How do you make yours? I had seen them on restaurant menus but never gave
>them any thought because I am not a fish lover. But my mom has ordered them
>and the fish was breaded. Seemed like a lot of carbs to me! I have seen
>recipes online that call for unbreaded as well as breaded.
>
>Then I saw that ad on TV where they used fish sticks in a hard shell.
>That's what I made for dinner tonight for husband and daughter. They both
>loved them. One fish stick was broken. I gave that to the cat who also
>loved it.
>
>I had bean tacos myself. And I found the taste I've been looking for! I
>made a post some time back asking about how to get the taste of canned chili
>beans in sauce without all the sugar. Taco Bell Table Sauce. Yep! It's
>that flavor. Daughter didn't like it but husband and I had it on our tacos.
>
>Now I have another quick meal to make.
>
>So how do you do the fish for your tacos? Assuming you eat them...

I've probably talked about this before, but I prefer pan-fried Alaska
halibut for fish tacos. There are variations on battering but I
use egg white / flour / chili powder / lemon zest in some form.

The thing about batter-fried fish is that the fish cooks differently, and
I think better, inside that coating of battering. It should not be
thick enough to constitute a lot of carbs. I use whole-wheat flour
and I doubt that as much as a tablespoon of flour ends up in two or
three tacos.

Steve

"Steve Pope" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:ij573b$6f4$[email protected]..
> Julie Bove <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>How do you make yours? I had seen them on restaurant menus but never gave
>>them any thought because I am not a fish lover. But my mom has ordered
>>them
>>and the fish was breaded. Seemed like a lot of carbs to me! I have seen
>>recipes online that call for unbreaded as well as breaded.
>>
>>Then I saw that ad on TV where they used fish sticks in a hard shell.
>>That's what I made for dinner tonight for husband and daughter. They both
>>loved them. One fish stick was broken. I gave that to the cat who also
>>loved it.
>>
>>I had bean tacos myself. And I found the taste I've been looking for! I
>>made a post some time back asking about how to get the taste of canned
>>chili
>>beans in sauce without all the sugar. Taco Bell Table Sauce. Yep! It's
>>that flavor. Daughter didn't like it but husband and I had it on our
>>tacos.
>>
>>Now I have another quick meal to make.
>>
>>So how do you do the fish for your tacos? Assuming you eat them...
>
> I've probably talked about this before, but I prefer pan-fried Alaska
> halibut for fish tacos. There are variations on battering but I
> use egg white / flour / chili powder / lemon zest in some form.
>
> The thing about batter-fried fish is that the fish cooks differently, and
> I think better, inside that coating of battering. It should not be
> thick enough to constitute a lot of carbs. I use whole-wheat flour
> and I doubt that as much as a tablespoon of flour ends up in two or
> three tacos.

Okay. Thanks! I have never battered a fish. My husband used to make
catfish but I'm not sure that would go well in a taco. He would dip it in
hot mustard and then in cornmeal and fry it.

Julie Bove <[email protected]> wrote:

>"Steve Pope" <[email protected]> wrote in message

>> I've probably talked about this before, but I prefer pan-fried Alaska
>> halibut for fish tacos. There are variations on battering but I
>> use egg white / flour / chili powder / lemon zest in some form.

>> The thing about batter-fried fish is that the fish cooks differently, and
>> I think better, inside that coating of battering. It should not be
>> thick enough to constitute a lot of carbs. I use whole-wheat flour
>> and I doubt that as much as a tablespoon of flour ends up in two or
>> three tacos.

>Okay. Thanks! I have never battered a fish. My husband used to make
>catfish but I'm not sure that would go well in a taco. He would dip it in
>hot mustard and then in cornmeal and fry it.

I have seen catfish tacos (say, on menus in in brewpubs) but
this does not make sense to me. You want some sort of fish
that is plausibly swimming around offshore of Baja. Rock cod /
California "snapper" is probably most prevalent, but halibut
is a little better of a fish -- even though you're stuffing it
in a taco, the quality is not lost.

Steve

"Steve Pope" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:ij58q6$826$[email protected]..
> Julie Bove <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>"Steve Pope" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
>>> I've probably talked about this before, but I prefer pan-fried Alaska
>>> halibut for fish tacos. There are variations on battering but I
>>> use egg white / flour / chili powder / lemon zest in some form.
>
>>> The thing about batter-fried fish is that the fish cooks differently,
>>> and
>>> I think better, inside that coating of battering. It should not be
>>> thick enough to constitute a lot of carbs. I use whole-wheat flour
>>> and I doubt that as much as a tablespoon of flour ends up in two or
>>> three tacos.
>
>>Okay. Thanks! I have never battered a fish. My husband used to make
>>catfish but I'm not sure that would go well in a taco. He would dip it in
>>hot mustard and then in cornmeal and fry it.
>
> I have seen catfish tacos (say, on menus in in brewpubs) but
> this does not make sense to me. You want some sort of fish
> that is plausibly swimming around offshore of Baja. Rock cod /
> California "snapper" is probably most prevalent, but halibut
> is a little better of a fish -- even though you're stuffing it
> in a taco, the quality is not lost.
>
I see... Thanks!

In article <ij56ho$ma1$[email protected]>,
"Julie Bove" <[email protected]> wrote:

> How do you make yours? I had seen them on restaurant menus but never gave
> them any thought because I am not a fish lover. But my mom has ordered them
> and the fish was breaded. Seemed like a lot of carbs to me! I have seen
> recipes online that call for unbreaded as well as breaded.
>
> Then I saw that ad on TV where they used fish sticks in a hard shell.
> That's what I made for dinner tonight for husband and daughter. They both
> loved them. One fish stick was broken. I gave that to the cat who also
> loved it.
>
> I had bean tacos myself. And I found the taste I've been looking for! I
> made a post some time back asking about how to get the taste of canned chili
> beans in sauce without all the sugar. Taco Bell Table Sauce. Yep! It's
> that flavor. Daughter didn't like it but husband and I had it on our tacos.
>
> Now I have another quick meal to make.
>
> So how do you do the fish for your tacos? Assuming you eat them...

I've used well drained canned tuna, and I've used fresh catfish. I
never, ever bread it. No reason to. I bake the catfish.
--
Peace! Om

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>
"One man's theology is another man's belly laugh."
--Robert Heinlien

In article <ij58q6$826$[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Steve Pope) wrote:

> Julie Bove <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >"Steve Pope" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> >> I've probably talked about this before, but I prefer pan-fried Alaska
> >> halibut for fish tacos. There are variations on battering but I
> >> use egg white / flour / chili powder / lemon zest in some form.
>
> >> The thing about batter-fried fish is that the fish cooks differently, and
> >> I think better, inside that coating of battering. It should not be
> >> thick enough to constitute a lot of carbs. I use whole-wheat flour
> >> and I doubt that as much as a tablespoon of flour ends up in two or
> >> three tacos.
>
> >Okay. Thanks! I have never battered a fish. My husband used to make
> >catfish but I'm not sure that would go well in a taco. He would dip it in
> >hot mustard and then in cornmeal and fry it.
>
> I have seen catfish tacos (say, on menus in in brewpubs) but
> this does not make sense to me. You want some sort of fish
> that is plausibly swimming around offshore of Baja. Rock cod /
> California "snapper" is probably most prevalent, but halibut
> is a little better of a fish -- even though you're stuffing it
> in a taco, the quality is not lost.
>
> Steve

You are missing how meaty tasting and yummy farm raised catfish is dear.
;-d
--
Peace! Om

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>
"One man's theology is another man's belly laugh."
--Robert Heinlien

Steve wrote:

> I have seen catfish tacos (say, on menus in in brewpubs) but
> this does not make sense to me. You want some sort of fish
> that is plausibly swimming around offshore of Baja.

I disagree. If it tastes good in a taco, I don't care if it's only available
from arctic waters. For example, I've had king crab tacos which were
delicious. Do you only enjoy sushi if the fish could plausibly have come
from Japan?

Bob

On 2/12/2011 12:50 AM, Steve Pope wrote:
> Julie Bove<[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> How do you make yours? I had seen them on restaurant menus but never gave
>> them any thought because I am not a fish lover. But my mom has ordered them
>> and the fish was breaded. Seemed like a lot of carbs to me! I have seen
>> recipes online that call for unbreaded as well as breaded.
>>
>> Then I saw that ad on TV where they used fish sticks in a hard shell.
>> That's what I made for dinner tonight for husband and daughter. They both
>> loved them. One fish stick was broken. I gave that to the cat who also
>> loved it.
>>
>> I had bean tacos myself. And I found the taste I've been looking for! I
>> made a post some time back asking about how to get the taste of canned chili
>> beans in sauce without all the sugar. Taco Bell Table Sauce. Yep! It's
>> that flavor. Daughter didn't like it but husband and I had it on our tacos.
>>
>> Now I have another quick meal to make.
>>
>> So how do you do the fish for your tacos? Assuming you eat them...
>
> I've probably talked about this before, but I prefer pan-fried Alaska
> halibut for fish tacos. There are variations on battering but I
> use egg white / flour / chili powder / lemon zest in some form.
>
> The thing about batter-fried fish is that the fish cooks differently, and
> I think better, inside that coating of battering. It should not be
> thick enough to constitute a lot of carbs. I use whole-wheat flour
> and I doubt that as much as a tablespoon of flour ends up in two or
> three tacos.
>
> Steve
Trader Joe's frozen battered halibut works very well and is also
relatively low-fat.

--
James Silverton, Potomac

On 2/12/2011 12:41 AM, Julie Bove wrote:
> How do you make yours? I had seen them on restaurant menus but never gave
> them any thought because I am not a fish lover. But my mom has ordered them
> and the fish was breaded. Seemed like a lot of carbs to me! I have seen
> recipes online that call for unbreaded as well as breaded.

A "standard" Baja style fish taco always uses breaded fish.


>
> Then I saw that ad on TV where they used fish sticks in a hard shell.
> That's what I made for dinner tonight for husband and daughter. They both
> loved them. One fish stick was broken. I gave that to the cat who also
> loved it.

Soft tacos are much more commonly used in Mexican cooking.

>
> I had bean tacos myself. And I found the taste I've been looking for! I
> made a post some time back asking about how to get the taste of canned chili
> beans in sauce without all the sugar. Taco Bell Table Sauce. Yep! It's
> that flavor. Daughter didn't like it but husband and I had it on our tacos.
>
> Now I have another quick meal to make.
>
> So how do you do the fish for your tacos? Assuming you eat them...
>
>
Battered in a beer batter (flour, baking powder, beer) and fried.

"Julie Bove" wrote

> How do you make yours? I had seen them on restaurant menus but never gave
> them any thought because I am not a fish lover. But my mom has ordered
> them and the fish was breaded. Seemed like a lot of carbs to me! I have
> seen recipes online that call for unbreaded as well as breaded.

I don't really do 'fish tacos'. I do something a little related, which is a
soft wrap using the thin rice wrappers soft mostly for making lumpia and
things like that. I prefer a white relatively fish for that one. Lingcod
is favored here but snapper works well as does sea bass.

I steam the fish with cabbage (Nappa or 'chinese' cabbage' works). Last
time I used pea leaves (yeah, lovely things, taste like peas, gotten at my
local asian store in large bags. They make a wonderful fresh green salad
too). I add a little raw onion minced fine and season lightly with whatever
feels right that day (can be salsa, can be Mae Ploy 'hot sweet chicken
sauce', might be tamari). Brush with egg and bake to golden. A light sea
salt to the raw brushed egg makes it nice.

I scramble the rest of the egg and give it to the dogs and cat.

If you normally chop up raw stuff to cook so are fast at it, you can make 8
of these in about 10 mins, then bake in a preheated oven about 5-7 at 450F.

> I had bean tacos myself. And I found the taste I've been looking for! I
> made a post some time back asking about how to get the taste of canned
> chili beans in sauce without all the sugar. Taco Bell Table Sauce. Yep!
> It's that flavor. Daughter didn't like it but husband and I had it on our
> tacos.

I make my own chili beans in a crockpot. You can get a huge 'tastes sweet,
isnt actually' from bell peppers. I seem to recall you would have to blanch
and skin them first. (gastroenteritis?). You could also freeze the bell
peppers 'skin on' then defrost and the skin will come right off. I suggest
halfing first and de-seeding as I recall you can't have the seeds either.
The texture will be different but in a bean pot, it will not matter due to
the long cooking. (next time you have some that are still fine but you know
you won't use in time, try the trick and see if it works. Since we
container garden up to 8 bell peppers a year, we hit a bumper crop and
freeze some of the excess while dehydrator gets the rest).

The chili beans this way do take a bit longer to be ready than you may want,
but actual time to make is again, about 10 mins then you set on low and let
the crockpot do it's thing. The results freeze well so you can baggie it up
for the freezer and make it only now and again.

Grin, cost is the main savings here. 1.19$ worth bag (8 oz) of red beans, 2
bell peppers (I use up to 4 but grow smaller heirloom types) estimate that
would be 2$ most places? Chili powder to taste (lets add 5cents?) 3.24$ and
you will have about 8 cans worth of beans. Using the crockpot which costs
*way less* than stove topping in power, will run you about 15cents. (stove,
as much as 2$). 3.39$ estimated for 8 cans worth?

Your prices may vary because your market may be smaller, but that's what I'd
run here if I needed to buy the bell peppers. Since I grow my own, my cost
is 1.39$ roughly.

On Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:41:15 -0800, "Julie Bove"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> How do you make yours?
<snip>
>
> So how do you do the fish for your tacos? Assuming you eat them...
>

I make soft shell tacos. Heat the tortillas and keep them in a
tortilla "warmer" until ready to use. Use a firm white fish fillet,
any kind you like (you can even use shellfish - like shrimp). I want
my fish naked. I don't like it breaded or even lightly coated in
flour. Cook it to flaky doneness and use two forks to pull it apart
into chunks. Serve on soft corn tortillas with whatever you like as
condiments. It was just the two of us last time; so I used diced
avocado, sliced green onions, store bought salsa, chopped lettuce and
swirled some chili powder into sour cream. I would have put out rice,
beans and a cabbage salad if there were more people to feed, but we
had 3 tacos each and were plenty full at the end of the meal.

Next time you make yourself a bean taco, try using refried beans and a
little cheese. It's delicious.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Fri, 11 Feb 2011 22:09:05 -0800, "Julie Bove"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> My husband used to make
> catfish but I'm not sure that would go well in a taco.

*I* think it would. Use what you like - I also pick what's on sale.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 08:30:11 -0500, James Silverton
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Trader Joe's frozen battered halibut works very well and is also
> relatively low-fat.

Oh, that's a good idea! I'm going to try it sometime.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:41:15 -0800, Julie Bove wrote:

> I had bean tacos myself. And I found the taste I've been looking for! I
> made a post some time back asking about how to get the taste of canned chili
> beans in sauce without all the sugar. Taco Bell Table Sauce. Yep! It's
> that flavor. Daughter didn't like it but husband and I had it on our tacos.

Chilli beans can just be made with canned beans simmered in a little
of its juice with chile powder, [Mexican] oregano, diced onion and
pressed garlic. I do it often. I like using black beans.

No reason to use Taco Bell taco sauce (which is illegal unless you use
it on actual Taco Bell food).

-sw

On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 08:55:56 -0500, George <[email protected]>
wrote:

> A "standard" Baja style fish taco always uses breaded fish.

Is that the major difference between Mexican and California fish
tacos? Soft shell vs hard shell? What about the condiments?

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Feb 11, 9:50*pm, spop...@speedymail.org (Steve Pope) wrote:
> Julie Bove <julieb...@frontier.com> wrote:
> >How do you make yours? *I had seen them on restaurant menus but never gave
> >them any thought because I am not a fish lover. *But my mom has ordered them
> >and the fish was breaded. *Seemed like a lot of carbs to me! *I haveseen
> >recipes online that call for unbreaded as well as breaded.
>
> >Then I saw that ad on TV where they used fish sticks in a hard shell.
> >That's what I made for dinner tonight for husband and daughter. *They both
> >loved them. *One fish stick was broken. *I gave that to the cat who also
> >loved it.
>
> >I had bean tacos myself. *And I found the taste I've been looking for!*I
> >made a post some time back asking about how to get the taste of canned chili
> >beans in sauce without all the sugar. *Taco Bell Table Sauce. *Yep! *It's
> >that flavor. *Daughter didn't like it but husband and I had it on our tacos.
>
> >Now I have another quick meal to make.
>
> >So how do you do the fish for your tacos? *Assuming you eat them...
>
> I've probably talked about this before, but I prefer pan-fried Alaska
> halibut for fish tacos. *There are variations on battering but I
> use egg white / flour / chili powder / lemon zest in some form.
>
> The thing about batter-fried fish is that the fish cooks differently, and
> I think better, inside that coating of battering. *It should not be
> thick enough to constitute a lot of carbs. *I use whole-wheat flour
> and I doubt that as much as a tablespoon of flour ends up in two or
> three tacos.
>
> Steve

Yep..Alaskan halibut is the best for fish tacos.

On 2/11/2011 11:41 PM, Julie Bove wrote:

> So how do you do the fish for your tacos? Assuming you eat them...


Since we try to avoid carbs here as much as possiblre, here's how I make
them (BTW) this is (almost) how my favorite restaurant *in* Mexico does
them)

I use tilapia. In a large skillet put a tablespoon of EVOO and a
tablespoon of butter. Melt. Place filets in the pan and sprinkle with
cumin, granulated garlic and Mexican oregano. (You can add whatever
other spices you like) Sprinkle with fresh lime juice. Sautee one side,
flip the fish and season the other side the same way.

When done, place some fish in a small tortilla (traditionally it is
small soft corn tortillas, but we use low carb wheat) put a few sprigs
of cilantro on the fish and some shredded cabbage. Sprinkle with more
fresh lime juice and a dollop of Mexican sour cream, regular sour cream
or even (my favorite) thick Greek yogurt) You can add some pico de
gallo or jarred salsa if you are one of those misguided people who
believe everything Mexican has to be hot.


--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

On Feb 12, 8:55*am, Janet Wilder <kelliepoo...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On 2/11/2011 11:41 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>
> > So how do you do the fish for your tacos? *Assuming you eat them...
>
> Since we try to avoid carbs here as much as possiblre, here's how I make
> them *(BTW) this is (almost) how my favorite restaurant *in* Mexico does
> them)
>
> I use tilapia. In a large skillet put a tablespoon of EVOO and a
> tablespoon of butter. Melt. Place filets in the pan and sprinkle with
> cumin, granulated garlic and Mexican oregano. (You can add whatever
> other spices you like) Sprinkle with fresh lime juice. *Sautee one side,
> flip the fish and season the other side the same way.
>
> When done, place some fish in a small tortilla (traditionally it is
> small soft corn tortillas, but we use low carb wheat) put a few sprigs
> of cilantro on the fish and some shredded cabbage. Sprinkle with more
> fresh lime juice and a dollop of Mexican sour cream, regular sour cream
> or even (my favorite) thick Greek yogurt) *You can add some pico de
> gallo or jarred salsa if you are one of those misguided people who
> believe everything Mexican has to be hot.
>
> --
> Janet Wilder
> Way-the-heck-south Texas
> Spelling doesn't count. *Cooking does.

I find tilapia a little bland for tacos...that's just me.

sf <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:41:15 -0800, "Julie Bove"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> How do you make yours?
> <snip>
>>
>> So how do you do the fish for your tacos? Assuming you eat
>> them...
>>
>
> I make soft shell tacos. Heat the tortillas and keep them in a
> tortilla "warmer" until ready to use. Use a firm white fish
> fillet, any kind you like (you can even use shellfish - like
> shrimp). I want my fish naked. I don't like it breaded or
> even lightly coated in flour. Cook it to flaky doneness and use
> two forks to pull it apart into chunks. Serve on soft corn
> tortillas with whatever you like as condiments. It was just the
> two of us last time; so I used diced avocado, sliced green
> onions, store bought salsa, chopped lettuce and swirled some
> chili powder into sour cream. I would have put out rice, beans
> and a cabbage salad if there were more people to feed, but we
> had 3 tacos each and were plenty full at the end of the meal.
>
> Next time you make yourself a bean taco, try using refried beans
> and a little cheese. It's delicious.

And makes you fatter.