Thursday, August 20, 2009

Fish Tacos Deconstructed

Having salsa in the fridge inspires many beautiful meals. And so, my Mexican food kick continues…


Masa Crusted Rockfish with Cabbage Slaw & Avocado Salsa
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons masa harina
¼ teaspoon pure chile powder
¼ teaspoon granulated garlic
4 4-ounce skinned and boned rockfish fillets
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Canola oil, for frying
6 ounces thinly sliced green cabbage
4 ounces thinly sliced red cabbage
2 ounces thinly sliced red onion
¼ cup minced cilantro
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup Avocado Salsa

Mix together the masa harina, chile powder, and granulated garlic in a large, shallow dish. Season the fillets generously with salt and pepper. Dip into the masa harina mixture to coat and shake off any excess. Add enough canola oil to a large, heavy nonstick frying pan to come to a depth of 1/8 inch. Heat over medium heat until a pinch of the masa harina mixture sizzles immediately when added. Add the fillets skinned side up and fry without disturbing for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Using a fish spatula, turn the fillets and fry another 1 to 2 minutes, or until cooked through and golden brown. Meanwhile, toss together the green cabbage, red cabbage, onion, cilantro, lime juice, and olive oil in a large bowl and season to taste with salt. Remove the fillets to a paper towel-lined plate and drain for about a minute. Arrange the fillets on individual plates, divide the slaw among them, drizzle with the salsa, and serve immediately.

Serves 4. Offer warm corn tortillas on the side. If rockfish is unavailable, you can substitute any other firm-fleshed white fish.

6 comments:

avaserfi said...

This looks amazing. Can regular flour be substituted for the masa harina? Will there be a large difference in flavor or texture?

Lucy Vaserfirer said...

Masa harina, which is used to make corn tortillas, tamales, and a variety of other masa treats, has a bold and earthy corn flavor, so regular flour wouldn’t be a good substitute at all. Finely ground cornmeal would be a far better option, but even it doesn’t quite compare—the masa harina lends a complexity of flavor to the dish that’s hard to match. By the way, masa harina is very inexpensive and readily available in the Mexican foods section of most supermarkets.

kamran siddiqi said...

Lucy, why must you torture me with such great recipes and photos?! Now, I wan a fish taco and I'm not a huge seafood person. That avocado salsa looks delish!

Super yumm!

Jennifer said...

Oh yum, the avocado salsa returns! I'm hungered by these photos and must get my paws on some masa harina asap.

Kristilyn said...

Yum! I've only had fish tacos once, but I loved them. This looks delicious!

K

Sam@BingeNYC said...

I love this, a new way to fulfill my fish taco craving. Yum!

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