Making a Splash with Fish Tacos

My family has some big fans of fish tacos. I asked around: What makes a good one? It starts with fresh whitefish – that’s unanimous – and a big dollop of lime sauce. Some prefer the crunch of fresh chopped cabbage and a crispy corn taco shell to add to the fun. Some want a big bunch of cilantro or slices of avocado on the side.

I see fish tacos showing up on restaurant menus here in the Northeast with more frequency, which makes everybody happy no matter what their personal preference. If you want to compare restaurant versions, apparently the place to do so is San Diego, where the fish taco is to the city what the cheese steak is to Philadelphia. I’m sure that Mexican fishermen have been wrapping cooked fish in taco shells for a long time. But the modern fish taco, as most of us know it, was first created in the late 1950s in the fishing towns of the Baja in Mexico. Both San Felipe and Ensenada lay claim. And there it stayed for a generation. Meanwhile, surfer dudes from California who went to the Baja for the waves were enamored of the tangy dish, which they could purchase at fish shacks along the shore to go down well with a cold cerveza (that’s beer, for you gringos).

Catching the wave

Enter Ralph Rubio, a college surfer who was lured to the area on spring break in 1974 from San Diego State and his studies in business. Ralph was surviving on cerveza and fish tacos from a San Felipe vendor named Carlos. One night over a cold one, Ralph suggested to Carlos that he expand with a stand in San Diego. Carlos wasn’t interested, but Ralph asked if he could at least have the recipe for the fish batter. Carlos agreed to provide a general outline of how to batter and fry a fish, without specific amounts. Ralph kept that scrap of paper in his shirt pocket for years.

After graduation, Ralph went to work as a waiter back in San Diego and began casting about for next steps. He asked his father to help him buy a restaurant, but his father suggested that he instead get a job at the front and back of the house to learn the business end. Sure enough, that’s what Ralph did. In 1983, they purchased a former Mickey’s Burgers for $15,000 and opened the first fish taco restaurant. That was 40 years, nearly 160 restaurants, and 270 million fish tacos ago.

The original Baja fish tacos were beer-battered fried whitefish, served in a corn tortilla with cabbage, lime crema, salsa, and fresh lime wedges. It’s a perfect combination of crispy and creamy, spicy and salty, with some umami thrown in.

An ocean of possibilities

So how would one of us make a good fish taco at home? First, you’ll need the right fish. Rubio’s uses Alaskan pollock, but a good cod, haddock, or flounder would do. Some folks even use salmon. As for preparation, how to cook it? Rubio’s breads, then fries their fish, but you might prefer yours to be sautéed or grilled, even coated with Cajun seasoning (blackened) if you like it spicy.

While the original fish tacos used corn tortillas, some people prefer the softer flour version. Lime crema is an essential part of the flavor profile. The simple version provides the perfect blend of tangy and tart. It calls for sour cream or yogurt plus mayonnaise in equal parts, together with lime juice, a diced garlic clove, and a splash of sriracha. Add your own fresh salsa blend of chopped tomato, garlic, onion, and jalapeno or chipotle. Finally, a slice of lime on each plate allows everyone to adjust the tartness to taste.

Once migrated from the Baja and Southern California, the fish taco has been modified for convenience and to cater to local tastes. You could always try the original Rubio’s recipe or sample someone else’s version. Sam Sifton of The New York Times’ dips his flounder in a flour/chili powder mixture before sautéing it in a pan, and then creates the taco with his cabbage, crema, and homemade salsa. Food blogger Kristine has more ingredients. She flavors her fish with chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and salt. Her sauce is a simple Greek yogurt, lime juice, garlic powder, and salt. But her toppings include red cabbage, avocado, and lime juice. Restauranteur Bobby Flay rubs the fish with an achiote paste, lime juice, olive oil, garlic, and salt mixture, then simply tops the taco with a habanero salsa that will surely tip the spicy scale. Here’s a Spruce Eats recipe that calls for baked seasoned tilapia.

Want to live a little on the wild side? How about trying blackened catfish together with the rest of your fish taco ingredients? Even the fish and chips aficionados across the big pond are getting into the swim of it. Here’s a recipe offered by the BBC.

If you’re a fan of fish tacos, what’s your version look – and taste – like? And why?

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