Chuck Zumbrun

Tales from Skunk Hill

Fish Tacos!

We had extra fish leftover from a recipe we made last night (Fish, shrimp, and feta cheese soup, so tasty! By imagined demand, here’s the recipe). We didn’t want to make a grocery store run today, so we nosed about in the refrigerator to find something to do with the fish and found tortillas and lettuce. The menu was obvious: fish tacos!

I remember the first time I had fish tacos. I was working on a job in San Diego and the locals I was working with said, “let’s go get fish tacos for lunch today.” I figured this was a torture the out-of-towner scenario, but I was a good sport and went along with it. I was surprised to find fish tacos were for real, and that they were incredibly delicious.

You can grill or fry the fish. I’m a firm believer that any food is better when fried. We had tilapia fillets. I sliced them into long thin strips, dipped them in milk and egg, and then in seasoned flour to make a thin batter. Fried them until nicely browned, rolled them in a warm tortilla with a little lettuce, tomato, and onion, and yum!

In San Diego they were always served with shredded cabbage. We didn’t have any cabbage, and the lettuce stood in for it just fine.

If you’ve never had fish tacos they sound weird and not at all appealing. But once you’ve had fish tacos you’ll be sad for all the years you’ve wasted not eating them.

8 responses to “Fish Tacos!”

  1. Missy Avatar
    Missy

    Fish tacos! Yum!!!

  2. Mom Avatar

    Al and Nancy took me for fish tacos in Hemet, a normal fast food stop there.You inspired me to try them for Bon.I remember the cabbage had a dressing similar to coleslaw.

  3. Lana Avatar
    Lana

    Suzanne took us for fish tacos when we were in Hemet several years ago and they were delicious. It was a fast food restaurant, probably the same one Al and Nancy took Arleen to.

  4. anne Avatar
    anne

    I still haven’t found a fish taco that I like, it’s kinda like Cincinnati chili. Tacos and fish don’t go together and that stuff in Cincy shouldn’t be called chili. The mouth is ready for something it doesn’t get in both cases.

  5. Missy Avatar
    Missy

    Okay, I’ve really been thinking this over and I can’t believe that you had soup with tilapia, shrimp, and feta and that you had it instead of fish tacos in the first place. 🙂

  6. cz Avatar

    It sounds weird, but this is so good:

    From the Big Book of Soups and Stews

    Halibut and Shrimp Soup with Feta Cheese
    For 6

    1 T Vegetable oil
    1 1/2 cups chopped onion
    2 cloves garlic, quartered
    1 28 oz whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped with juice
    1/2 cup white wine
    1/4 cup chicken stock
    1 t sugar
    3/4 t oregano
    salt to taste
    pepper to taste
    1/4 c chopped parsley
    3/4 lb halibut cut into bite sized pieces (any white fish is fine)
    1/2 lb shrimp, shelled (and deveined if you’re so inclined)
    1 cup crumbled feta cheese

    saute onion and garlic until tender
    Add tomatoes, wine, stock, sugar, spices. Bring to a boil and reduce and simmer until vegetable are tender. (It’s excellent to do ahead to this point and keep in the fridge until ready to use. This is also an excellent point to have a glass of that white wine you just added to the soup!)
    Add fish and cook at a simmer until it starts to flake (5 minutes or so)
    Add shrimp and cook until pink
    Just before serving stir in cheese.

  7. Missy Avatar
    Missy

    Halibut soup, no problem. I don’t really eat shrimp. The big thing that gets me is the feta. Maybe I’ll buckle under your significant peer pressure and try it. Wonder if I can get away with not putting in shrimp. I could maybe put in a little fish sauce or clam sauce to up the “fishiness.”

    1. chuck Avatar
      chuck

      It would work fine without the shrimp. The last time we made we had some leftover clam stock and used it. It was more like half a cup. And I used a pint of crushed tomatoes and a couple tablespoons of tomato paste vs. the 28 oz of whole tomatoes. Made it a little thicker and more stew-like.

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