Move over caesar salad, I have a new love in my life and it comes in a corn tortilla. For the past month plus I have been making (not to mention consuming my body weight in) THE BEST FISH TACOS IN THE WORLD. I am full on addicted. You know you have done it right when you have no desire to go out to eat for the fish tacos you used to always crave, and choose to stay home instead. They’re flavorful, crunchy, light, a bit spicy, and absolutely delicious. I have also made this exact recipe with shrimp, and it’s equally delicious. While I prefer shrimp’s flavor over fish, as far as the mechanics of eating go, I find that the fish tacos are easier to eat. You’re able to achieve that perfect ratio of fish : slaw : sauce in every bite. Trust me on this, I’m a professional eater.
The cabbages in the slaw are merely suggestions, feel free to experiment with different kinds or use whatever is available to you! Also note I don’t give exact measurements. First of all I don’t tend to measure, second, it’s a slaw eyeball it and adjust. Third, I don’t make it the same way every time. If I have a larger head of red cabbage one time it will have more red cabbage than Napa, or vice versa. It truly doesn’t matter, it’s all tasty!
This recipe is a compilation of elements of different recipes I’ve tried, tweaked, and then combined to create the best fish tacos!
The Fish
- Fresh fish (or shrimp!) of choice cut into strips – I prefer haddock or mahi-mahi
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1.5 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- salt and pepper
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- Half and half mixture of plain and panko breadcrumbs
- Corn Tortillas heated
The bang bang sauce
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1 heaping tablespoon sambal oelek chili paste
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco (or more to taste)
The slaw
- Red Cabbage
- Napa Cabbage
- Bunch of Scallions
- Fresh Mango
- Handful of fresh cilantro
- Fresh Lime
directions
- Make the batter and assemble the fish: At least an hour before you plan to eat (or earlier if you have the time!) Mix together flour through salt & pepper in a bowl. In a separate bowl whisk egg and milk and then slowly incorporate into dry ingredients whisking until smooth. On a separate plate mix plain and panko breadcrumbs. Add strips of fish into wet batter and toss around until fully coated. Let excess drip off, then roll in breadcrumbs pushing to adhere. Place fish on a drying rack over baking sheet. Once all fish is done, let sit uncovered in the fridge until ready. **While it certainly is possible to do this and immediately fry, when breading anything whether it be fish, chicken, pork, etc letting it sit in the fridge helps the breadcrumbs cling to the meat and will prevent it from falling off when frying
- Make the Bang Bang: Mix the ingredients for the bang bang sauce until well combined, adding more or less tabasco to taste to adjust heat preference
- Prepare the slaw: Shred the Napa and Red Cabbages and add to a bowl. Chop scallions green and white parts, cilantro, and mango and add to cabbage. Toss to mix, adding fresh lime juice. Add a few tablespoons of bang bang sauce and continue to toss until lightly and evenly coated.
- After the fish has rested in the fridge for at least an hour, add avocado oil to a heavy bottomed skilled on medium-high. You are pan frying, not deep frying so just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Fry until golden brown, and fish is flaky and cooked through.
Assemble your taco, and may I recommend bang bang sauce on the bottom and a light drizzle on top? PS – the taco holders at home are an absolute game changer. Enjoy the best fish tacos ever, and I dare you to not become a full fledged addict such as myself.
This looks amazing! Totally want to add more fish in my diet and this looks like the perfect vehicle. Question on the spices – how spicy is it all together? i love spice, but unfortunately my other family members don’t so much. Any flavors I could switch out so it still has flavor, just less spicy?
The way I have it written I find it isn’t very spicy at all! The flavor in the batter comes through but the real “heat” comes from the tabasco in the bang bang. I may have a higher “tolerance” though. I haven’t tried different spices, but maybe you could just try decreasing the ones that I specify a little bit? Sorry I couldn’t be more help!
These definitely lived up to the hype! Absolutely delish! They didn’t have Napa cabbage at my grocery store, so I substituted Savoy cabbage. I also ran out of avocado oil, so I used coconut oil for cooking the fish. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
We made these last week and they were soooo delicious!! I should buy the holders, they make them look double as tasty 🙂 I’m going to make them next week again but with shrimps instead of fish. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so glad you loved them! And the taco holders are a GAME CHANGER. You don’t lose half your taco on the plate! 😀