Fish Tacos with Chipotle Mayo and Coleslaw

I have long been on a quest for the perfect fish taco to make at home: something spicy and tangy and crunchy and earthy that makes me lick my fingers and go back for more. And let me tell you, I have really had some fish taco failures at home—there are so many different recipes to be found, so many marinades and toppings, so many ideas about what makes a good taco! And the truth is that the basic, classic ingredients that make up a fish taco, white fish and coleslaw, can be quite bland.

I am forever ordering fish tacos in restaurants so I can examine them and make mental notes. (Note to self: do not drop an enormous chunk of fried fish inside a tortilla, top it with three shreds of cabbage, and call it a taco. Yuck.)

But Sarah and I were determined to get it right! I think this recipe is a winner, a taco I would make again and again. The coleslaw is sharp and limey, the chipotle mayo adds just the right amount of heat, and the fish is flaky and well seasoned. Taco heaven!

We started by marinating the mahi-mahi. Mahi-mahi is a perfect fish for tacos because it is a larger fish and therefore the flanks are thicker. This is good for cooking because you can get a nice char without totally murdering the fish—but really any mild white fish would work in this recipe! Sarah got the idea for making a spiced tequila-lime marinade, and I think it was absolute perfection.

Before you ask, we did puzzle over what to suggest as a substitute for tequila and we came up dry. (Haha.) Honestly, if you don’t have tequila on hand, I would suggest rubbing the fish, top and bottom, with the spices and onion, then sprinkling with the lime juice on both sides before cooking. There simply is no replacement for tequila!

While the fish marinates, prepare the coleslaw. We had pre-shredded cabbage and carrots, but ideally you would thinly slice a cabbage for this coleslaw, so that the coleslaw can be long and sleek inside the taco. You can use almost any variety of cabbage you like here. Stir the cabbage together with sour cream and the juice of one lime. You could also add cilantro directly into the coleslaw, but I find that sometimes fresh herbs become a bit slimy and brown when they sit in a dressing for too long, so I added cilantro to my taco separately. Season with salt and black pepper. Set aside for the flavors to blend.

Stir together a quick chipotle mayo (as you may imagine, mayonnaise and a minced chipotle pepper with a spoonful of adobo will do the trick!) and thinly slice an avocado.

And, of course, the wonderful thing about tacos is that you can use any condiments that you’d like: Sarah also added some queso fresco and some pickled red onion to hers!

Grill or sauté the fish about 3 minutes on each side over very high heat. A little blackening is a good thing for a taco! (If your fish flank is very thin, adjust the time down a little to avoid overcooking it.) Remove the fish from the heat and set it aside to rest for a few minutes. Using forks, pull the mahi-mahi into flakes.

Time to assemble tacos!

Warm some small tortillas in a dry sauté pan. Fill them simply and not too full: a stripe of chipotle mayo, about a quarter cup of flaked fish, a spoonful of coleslaw, and some cilantro. Garnish with a few slices of avocado and a generous drizzle of lime juice. Yum!