My family likes tacos with hamburger (highly seasoned), and sometimes we’ll have chicken tacos. Never tried fish tacos, though - are they any good? What commonly-available fish is best in 'em? Any recipe suggestions?
You haven’t lived until you’ve had a 25 cent fish taco in Baja California. Well, I’m dating myself, the last time I was there, they were 75 cents. As far as I’m concerned, there are two types of fish tacos, fried (baja style) and grilled. Both are to die for.
Both types are best made with mild firm fresh white fleshed fish (pollack, shark, maybe?). Baja style are battered and deep fried fish with shredded cabbage and a white sauce made from mayonaise, lemon juice and what I believe is evaporated milk (sour cream will do in a pinch). Garnish with more raw onions and cilantro. Grilled are grilled or pan fried fish with onions, bell peppers, lots of lime juice, and as my friend Jeff says, the killer guacamole (haas avocados, tomatoes, limes, onions, garlic powder, jalapenos (habaneros for the fearless) and cilantro). Toss on some grated cheese if you like. Key for both types are fresh corn tortillas (homemade if possible). Toss on some Tapatio or favorite hot sauce and you are good to go.
I don’t have any exact recipes though, perhaps others can help out.
I have not tried fish tacos, per se, but I have been baking and broiling catfish topped with chunky salsa for almost twenty years. More recently, I have prepared tilapia and basa in the same way, as they share the “non-fishy” nature of catfish.
I would suspect that adding shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, chopped black olives, onion, bell pepper, and similar ingredients might very well enhance the dish. (I am not a taco aficianado, so I have not tried it, myself,)
I like the fish tacos from Taco Del Mar, I have lettuce on mine instead of cabbage.
To answer the question: halibut works very well, as does tilapia or any other firm white fish. I’ve made them in corn tortillas with salmon, which is a much stronger flavor, but tasty.
Yep, tilapia is wonderful. Here’s a good recipe (it’s from a “low carb” TV show on PBS, but the only thing “low carb” about these are the tortillas, so use any kind you like to make it “regular” style). Go to episode 12. The fish tacos w/ salsa verde are muy sabrosos!
I had a dream about eating a fish taco last night.
Oh wait… you’re talking about something different. Sorry 
Ensenada has the best fish tacos. Just find a vendor, hand him a twenty, and tell him to keep you in tacos and beer until that runs out. You stagger away stuffed to the gills and pleasantly hammered.
Oh, yeah, Tacos Fish, and that’s even how they say it in lots of parts of Mexico. Any type of beer-batter style batter will make them wonderful. I prefer them with pico de gallo made with serranos. Any good, white, firm fish is good. I’ve made 'em at home with halibut, cod, orange roughy.
Well, this thread made me hungry for some fish tacos, so I went off to the grocer, and here’s what I did (they came out delicious):
Fresh corn tortillas (I’m lucky to live somewhere where the tortillas are still warm in their wax paper packaging when I buy them)
1 lb tilapia
Flour
2 Eggs
Water
Key limes (or Persian [regular] limes)
1/4 head Cabbage
Mayonnaise
White onion
Cilantro
Cut tilapia into one inch strips the long way down the fish. Marinate tilapia in about 1/2 cup of lime juice and 1/2 tsp salt for 30 minutes. (Feel free to play with the marinade. For me, the lime is enough.)
Break open two eggs into a bowl and beat them. Add enough flour to make a thickish paste, and then add water to reduce to about pancake batter consistency. Add salt to taste. I would say about 1/2 tsp should about do it.
Dip tilapia in batter and fry, about three minutes a side, in a pan until crispy. Set aside on a plate with folded-over paper towels to let the oil drain a bit.
For the garnish, shred the cabbage, toss in 1/4 cup or so of lime juice, salt, and just enough mayo to coat the cabbage but not make it obnoxiously pasty. Add pepper to taste.
Serve with thinly sliced onions, cilantro, cabbage garnish, hot peppers, and any hot sauces you may enjoy.
I can’t vouch for any authenticity, having never been to San Diego, but these sure were tasty.
Moved to CS.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
Sounds delish! The only change I would make to the recipe is to use beer instead of water in the batter, and maybe add some spices to the batter as well.
I really like fish tacos, but the first time I had them, they featured grilled, not fried, fish.
I’ve made some really yummy (IMO) fish tacos using my George Foreman grill to cook the fish. The cabbage-cilantro-lime slaw is a must.
I’ve never done them battered, only slightly bruised. Har. If you just want to pan fry the fish in a little butter and olive oil, do it in about quarter-pound chunks and only until just done. It’s easy to over-cook fish and it becomes dry and unpleasant.
If you’re ever in Southern California, look for Rubio’s Baja Grill or Wahoo’s Fish Tacos. Well, I can’t vouch for Wahoo’s as I’ve never eaten there, but Rubio’s is pretty good.
I had fish tacos yesterday at an employee cafeteria near my work (they don’t kick you out if you don’t work there). They put on a lot of pico de gallo - just what my clogged sinuses needed. 
I describe my approach (non-battered) to fish tacos in this thread, in response to a request for pollock recipes. The requester came back later and said they turned out pretty tasty. Check it out. 
I tried a fish taco there once. The piece of fish was tiny. Never went back.
In WA I’ve had fish tacos from Taco del Mar (fish too small), the late, lamented Casa Que Pasa (too much salad), and a chain at a mall (grilled fish). I decided it would be better to make them myself. I like to use tilapia because I like tilapia. It’s also cheap. I coat them in McCormick Cajun-style fish fry and fry them in oil. I mjake the sauce from sour cream and a partial packet of taco seasoning mix (not too much!). Warm corn tortillas, shredded cabbage, lime juice, and dinner is served.
Rubio’s is goo, but I haven’t been there in a long time. Someone told me they ‘changed their recipe’ and they’re not as good as they were a few years ago. I couldn’t say. I liked their beans, BTW.
The Red Cross gave away coupons for a No. 1 meal at Wahoo’s to people who donated blood. I’ve been to Wahoo’s three times, I think. The fish tacos are good, only they’re grilled and I prefer fried.