Tacos are de rigueur on Tuesday.
In Springfield, home to the bumbling, bright-yellow Simpsons, the school cafeteria suffers stampede every time it’s Tuesday. Ominous pause. Taco Tuesday. Bright-yellow Bart downs a tray full, eschewing any stray bits of vegetable, then kicks back, awaiting his next taco opportunity.
In the Lego city of Bricksburg, hinged plastic Taco Tuesday Man comes with snap-in platter and a pair of square orange plastic tacos. In the real world, many a dive and drive-in observe Taco Tuesday.
Routines we admire. Eschewing plastic, we like our tacos less Springfield, more San Diego: Spicy cabbage, crisp fish, cool avocado, creamy sauce.
Good enough to down every Tuesday. And wish the day came around more often.
Fish tacos
Prep: 45 minutes
Cook: 8 minutes
Makes: 8 tacos
For fish:
1 pound cod (or other firm white fish), cut into 1-ounce chunks
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
For batter:
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1 cup flour
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne
8 ounces beer (standard or non-alcoholic)
1 egg
For slaw:
1 cup each: slivered green and red cabbage
1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro (leaves and tender stems)
1/4 cup slivered green onion
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 slivered jalapeno (if you like it hot)
For sauce:
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
To finish: Canola oil, 16 small soft corn tortillas and guacamole
1 Marinate: Toss fish chunks with salt and lime juice.
2 Whisk: In a large bowl, whisk smooth all batter ingredients.
3 Toss: In a large bowl, toss together all slaw ingredients.
4 Mix: Stir together all sauce ingredients
5 Steam: Wrap tortillas in a damp kitchen towel. Zap for 2 minutes.
6 Fry: Set a large cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Add canola oil to depth of 1/4 inch. When hot, dip half the fish chunks in batter and fry golden, about 1 minute per side. Drain on paper towels. Fry remaining fish.
7 Build: For each taco stack up two hot tortillas. Heap on slaw, 2 fish chunks, sauce and guacamole. Enjoy.