The Ultimate Fish Tacos

I'm always iffy about fish tacos, just doesn't seem like something that would work.  I love making Mexican dishes and exploring different vegetarian ingredients, sometimes it's nice to go all out and sometimes it's nice to keep it simple.  Yesterday I wanted to make a special dinner for Owen because he started his job this week and has been extra nice to me since it's been a stressful school week.  This recipe is great because the flavor combinations of the different components work wonderfully with each other.  The fish itself is easily fried, the chipotle mayo is outrageous, and you can't beat authentic corn tortillas.  It's a little bit more extra work, I made the mayo and salsa earlier in the day to make dinner go by pretty quick.  Recipe can be easily doubled to wow anybody at a dinner party, and I guarantee they will be, this is by far some of the best fish tacos I've ever had, if I do say so myself.

(ps sorry for the low-quality pics, had to make do with a Nikon Coolpix)

Fish Tacos

serves 4-5

Ingredients

1 lb mahi-mahi or tilapia, cut into 1oz strips

1 cup flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tbs water

2 cups panko breadcrumbs (I'm sure you could make your own, but panko are just so light and puffy and really give the fish a nice crunch)

sea salt & pepper

vegetable oil, for frying

1/4 head savoy cabbage, shredded

1/2 bunch cilantro, leaves picked

chives, chopped

lime wedges for garnish

Chipotle Mayo

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayo

2 chipotles in abodo, plus 1 tbs abodo sauce

1/2 tbs lemon juice

sea salt & pepper

Mango-Radish Salsa

1 mango, diced

1 lime, juiced

2-3 red radishes, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 tbs chili powder

1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1/8 cup cold pressed olive oil 

To make Mayo & salsa, just add everything together in a food processor and blend until you get desired consistency.  You could use a blender for the mayo (the chipotles need to be ground up), or just nix the processor for the salsa.

For the fish, set up breading station.  Dip pieces in flour, then eggs mixed with water, then panko bread crumbs, and deep fry with oil at 375 degrees until light brown (just a couple of minutes).  Drain on paper towels and season with salt and pepper.

Set everything up in bowls and eat family style with heated corn tortillas.  Mayo and Salsa keeps very well in fridge and makes excellent dipping sauce in the future =)