Cooking dinner every Sunday is partially voluntary and partially required by mom. I love food and I really love watching cooking and food shows, but I usually only helped around the kitchen and don't really prepare full meals. Mom insists that I should practice because I'll be getting married soon. I don't mind cooking because I'm learning new stuff every time and it's fun.
I always forget to take photos before, during, and after cooking, so I don't have any photos of the previous stuff I've made. So far I've done a bunch of chicken recipes so I thought it was time to make something with fish. After looking through a bunch of recipes I decided I was going to make fish tacos.
Yogurt Sauce
| Plain yogurt (Greek or regular both work) | 1/2 cup |
| Sour cream | 3 tablespoons |
| Mayonnaise (I used low fat) | 2 tablespoons |
| Cumin | 1/2 teaspoon |
| Cayenne pepper | 1/4 teaspoon |
| Dried dill weed / Fresh dill | 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon / 1 tablespoon |
- Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. If using fresh dill, chop it first
- I made the sauce first and kept it in the fridge, covered, to develop the flavor of the sauce.
Corn, Black Bean, and Tomato Salsa
| Black beans, rinsed, drained | 1 can |
| Corn, drained | 1 1/2 cups (or 1 can) |
| Tomatoes, diced | 4-5 whole |
| Red onion, diced | 1 whole |
| Fresh cilantro, chopped | 1 bunch |
| Lemon or lime juice | From 1 whole lemon or lime |
- Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, except for lemon juice.
- Squeeze the lemon juice over the salsa and mix.
- Keep salsa in the fridge, covered, until ready to serve.
Tips:
- After chopping the onion, rinse the pieces under cold water to reduce the strong flavor that might ruin your salsa. Pat dry before adding to the salsa.
- How to get more juice out of your lime or lemon:
- Pop it in the microwave for around 15-20 seconds (it should be warm and not too hot)
- Roll it on a counter top while applying some pressure (don't squish it too much!)
Fish Tacos
| Firm white fish (I used cream dory) | 1 pount |
| Flour | 1/2 cup |
| Paprika | 1 teaspoon |
| Cumin | 1 teaspoon |
| Chili powder or cayenne pepper | 1 teaspoon |
| Freshly ground black pepper | |
| Panko breadcrumbs | 2 cups |
| Egg | 3 large |
| Vegetable oil | For frying |
| Tortillas (I used whole wheat) | 1 pack |
| Iceberg lettuce, shredded |
- Rinse the fish, pat dry with paper towels and cut into strips around 1 1/2-inches wide
- In a shallow bowl combine the flour, paprika, cumin, chili powder, and pepper. Mix well.
- In another bowl beat the eggs for the egg wash
- In another shallow bowl put the Panko bread crumbs.
- Production line time!
- Dip the fish strip into the egg wash.
- Dredge the fish strip in the flour mixture.
- Dip the the fish strip into the egg wash again.
- Finally, dip the fish strip into the Panko bread crumbs. Make sure the whole strip is covered in bread crumbs.
- Repeat steps 1-4 for all the remaining strips of fish.
- In a large skillet heat the oil under medium-high heat. To check if the oil is the right temperature you can drop some bread crumbs into the oil. If the bread crumbs get fried immediately and float to the surface then the oil is ready.
- Add the fish strips into the oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry on one side until golden brown (not dark brown) then turn to fry the other side. Turn only once.
- Place cooked fish strips on paper towels to drain excess oil.
Just before serving you can warm the tortillas on a pan using dry heat. Heat up a small pan, big enough to fit one tortilla. When the pan is warm enough place a tortilla on the pan for a few seconds and then flip to heat the other side, for a few seconds as well. You can use your hands to flip the tortillas so you can gauge the heat (tortillas should not be too hot) or you can use a tong or a spatula if your hands are a bit more sensitive.
I just placed all the different components on the table and let everyone put together their own tacos. You can include more toppings for the tacos aside from lettuce like freshly chopped cilantro, lemon slices, hot sauce, or grated cheese. Go topping crazy!
I'll definitely make these again, and maybe next time I'll include some shrimp as well.