Asian Fish Tacos: The great garage shakedown of 2010

For RT, who asked me for these.

I have done three international moves in the past eight and half years. I haven't lived in the same country for longer than a three year stretch. The result of that many moves are boxes in the garage that are filled with mysterious objects with no clear idea of their provenance. It irked me to the point of distraction until finally I convinced Husband that we needed to go through the garage and organize. Once and for all.

He reluctantly agreed for Husband loathes throwing anything away. He is convinced that at some future date, something that is in the boxes will become useful and he can shove it into my face and say something like, "I bet you never thought we would have a use for THIS?" It has yet to happen, but husband lives for the day. We have begun the tedious process of opening boxes, sorting what is in the box into various piles of KEEP, RECYCLE, GIVE AWAY. It has been a process filled with potential landmines as my gut instinct is to say, "THROW IT ALL AWAY" and his is "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!" The current item of contention is a complete set of beautifully bound, deluxe Encyclopedia Britannica...from 1985. (My gut says RECYCLE, his is SELL.)

The cleanup of the garage has left me very busy and too preoccupied to really cook. With the garage the explosion it is, my minivan unable to be parked inside, I just want it finished and done with. I can't think about cooking and if I do cook, it needs to be done really quickly. But friend RT asked me for a fish taco recipe, and has asking for a bit of time. So while going through boxes, I thought of different ways to do a fish taco. As I was looking through a box of husband's books from college, I happened upon a stack of Asian-American novels. Suddenly like a beam of light shining through the huge mess in the garage it hit me...ASIAN tacos. Why in the world not!

As I got ready to make them, I started to worry that the dust had completely blocked off all my synapses and I was about to embark on a journey that could only end badly. REALLY bad. Really bad fish tacos that is. However, when I went to ask Husband for help grilling them, he got pretty excited and offered to use his "expert" grilling skills to get my fish tacos to work. He even allowed me to watch and photograph them as they were cooking. We even had a momentary truce as we bonded with these fish tacos.

The result was very very good. I was super pleased with these, and even before Kids got to eat one, husband and I were sharing one outside by the grill. His face lit up for the first time since the "Great Garage Shakedown of 2010" and it said, "These are good." They are light, satisfying and super easy to make. I'm hoping that the deliciousness of these tips the scales in my favor as we continue to clean the garage. Serve these with Ginger Green Rice and you're good to go.

**As an additional note, I did try two different type of fish with these, both on the list of ocean friendly seafood. I did a mahi-mahi (frozen and then defrosted from Trader Joes) and halibut, also frozen from Trader Joes. The price different between the two was significant. The mahi-mahi was about $5 a pound and the halibut was $12. Both were delicious and satisfying. Daughters both preferred halibut, as did Husband, but I liked the meaty denseness of the mahi-mahi, If you have a favorite white fish, go ahead and use it and try these tacos out.

Asian Fish Tacos
Serves 6

Fish
2 lbs of firm white meat fish, your choice. (I used mahi-mahi and halibut. Tiliapia would be good as well as some cod) (make sure fish is defrosted if you are using frozen)
2/3 cup of mirin
2/3 cup of soy sauce (I use the Kikoman reduced sodium)
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
3 tablespoons grated ginger

30 minutes before cooking, mix mirin, soy sauce, lime zest and ginger all together. Pour over fish and allow to sit. After 30 minutes, remove fish from marinade.

Heat grill to medium high. Using cooking spray or oil, grease the grill so as to prevent fish from sticking.
You may want to consider the additional precaution of using a sheet of aluminum foil to keep the fish from sticking. (According to husband, mahi mahi was firm enough to make it on the grill without the foil, but halibut was too delicate and needed the foil)

Cook for 4 minutes on one side and then turn. Careful not to over cook, although the fish taco can be somewhat forgiving of a slightly dry piece of fish. Cook for an additional 2 minutes until fish is firm and opaque. Remove from grill.

Asian Slaw
1/2 head of cabbage, thinly shredded
1 bunch of scallions finely chopped
1/4 cup of mayonaise
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
a good dose of black pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and pepper. Toss together with cabbage and scallions. Set aside.

Sesame Chili Sauce
1/4 cup Sambal Oelek with garlic (or ground red chilis - available at your chinese market - super HOT)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Mix all ingredients together. Set aside.

Assembly
Flour or corn tortillas, warmed over low heat in a fry pan
Cilantro sprigs

In a warm tortilla, add a nice chunk of fish. Top with the slaw, cilantro sprig and a few sprinkles of sesame chili sauce. Eat and enjoy!

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