Grilled Fish Tacos with Avocado Mango Salsa
I remember the first time that my Los Angeles born and bred sister came to visit me in the Midwest. We were at a Cracker Barrel, and she looked up sweetly at the waitress and asked if she could please just add a little avocado to her iceberg salad? It was February, and the waitress looked more confused than exasperated, but the answer seemed so obvious to anyone living in a small factory town in Southern Wisconsin, I had to wince. No. She squinted at my sister’s forehead and turned on her heel towards the kitchen.
It’s been said that Southern Californians are weaker, whinier, and far more spoiled than our neighbors in just about every other direction. Avocados are a perfect example. The rough black skinned fruits have been considered an indulgent luxury throughout history, but we grow up with them rotting on the ground in our backyards. The word avocado is actually derived from the Aztec word for testicle ahuacatl, which probably refers to their shape, but also to the fact that they’ve been considered a rather scandalous treat by their lucky consumers long before Spanish explorers brought them back to their pious European neighbors in the Seventeenth Century. They are said to have been used as aphrodisiacs in the Americas, considered so powerful that village virgins were forbidden from stepping outside while the fruit was being harvested.
As high maintenance and frou frou as Los Angeles cuisine would seem, it is precisely for its fresh, simple flavors that I love it so. The foods I loved eating as a child usually incorporated cilantro, citrus, and fresh seafood. One of my favorite memories as a child is of the grilled fish tacos we’d get at a small roadside stand called Taco Auctioneers near Encinitas, California, on the way to San Diego. We used to buy them, tired and sandy, after a day of surfing (or trying) at a beach about 10 miles further South. The taco stand has since closed down, and it’s been ten years since I’ve tried to stand up on a surfboard, but I have continued trying to emulate the perfection of their grilled fish tacos.
For me, the best recipe has to use shredded cabbage of some kind, for its crunch, avocados for their richness, and lime, to bind all of the flavors together. This recipe is a combination of several recipes that I’ve tried from over the years, with help from the always useful website epicurious.com.
Grilled Baja Mahi Mahi Tacos
2 lbs. mahi mahi or any fresh white fish,
1/2 cup vegetable oil,
3 tbsp lime juice, 5 tsp chili powder,
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin,
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander,
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic,
Salt to taste,
Juice of fresh limes
8 flour tortillas, 8 inches in diameter
Half head of cabbage, sliced thinly or shredded (red or green will work, though I prefer green for its milder flavor)
Whisk together marinade ingredients so that oil breaks up a little bit. Cut mahi mahi into 16 equal slices and coat with marinade using brush. Preheat grill to medium high heat. If you’re using a charcoal grill, allow the coals to burn down a bit until they are glowing red and spread them so that they are evenly dispersed.
Grill the fish until the first side is firmer and well marked, then turn and repeat with the second side.
Grill the tortillas just before serving (always best over an open flame) until they have grill marks, and just before they bubble. Fill tortillas will grilled fish, shredded cabbage, squeezed lime juice, and Avocado, Mango Salsa (See recipe below). Always good in the backyard with a chilled Pacifico beer or Margarita with Salt, under the orange and avocado trees.
Avocado Mango Tomato Salsa
1 mango, peeled, pitted, and diced
4 medium tomatoes diced (I think any kind of tomato works here, but Roma can be a little too soft and mushy for me)
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced,
jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced,
½ cup chopped cilantro, salt to taste,
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice,
¼ cup chopped red onion,
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
All ingredients tossed in a bowl! Eat up!
I love it!
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