It’s a bit cheeky for me to add the “a la Marketman” in the title of this post. Because frankly, this is a riff on a fish taco we enjoyed immensely at the Pot Luck Club restaurant in Cape Town. The chef there in turn created it after stints across Asia, including a hotel stint in the Philippines. So it’s a roundabout way of getting to a dish, but I think this version is slightly different but nearly as good. I will do a post on the dinner at Pot Luck Club soon, but suffice it to say this dish made one of the strongest impressions, so I had to try and make it at home.
It seemed like the perfect appetizer for a small gathering of special friends. It casual but luxurious, and wickedly messy to eat, something you can only do in the company of good friends…
Chop up some good avocados, squeeze some lemon juice on them and add chopped cilantro and mix. Place in a bowl and chill.
Get some sushi quality tuna, dice into one-fourth inch cubes, and I added some soy sauce, sesame oil, chili oil and sesame seeds and seasoning.
I purchased a can of re-fried beans, heated them up, and placed them in a bowl to cool a bit before serving. I suppose you could make your own, but I have never done that before.
Also have a bowl of chopped heirloom or regular tomatoes on hand. And a bowl of sour cream as well. I added in a bowl of padrón peppers as well.
For the “taco” I used fried cassava crackers, which do have a tendency to get soft on contact with liquid, so you need to assemble your taco quickly and eat it immediately.
Start with a cassava cracker, shmear on some re-fried beans, top with some avocado, tuna and tomatoes and a dollop of sour cream and serve with a padrón pepper to nibble on for some heat. You can fold this and stuff it in your mouth or try to eat it daintily as an open face taco. No matter how you do it, it tastes great. Not sure why, but it just does. Crunch from the cracker, starchy mushy texture from the beans with that distinct flavor, the freshness of the avocado, cilantro and tomatoes, the tuna and sour cream just make for a mouthful of deliciousness. I could eat 8 of these for dinner, full stop.
For non-alcoholic drinks we had these three bottles of pomegranate, blood orange and tangerine italian sodas (from Whole Foods, and oddly, I purchased them at Duty Free Philippines) which just serendipitously matched the color palette of the evening.
And we had bottles of Veuve Clicquot chilled in the fridge. But we never got to the Veuve, as guests brought several wonderful bottles of champagne and wine with them for dinner… :)
18 Responses
Interesting take on fish tacos as the ones I’ve seen in the US used breaded fish fillets. This version is fresher and healthier. I didn’t see those sodas in Duty Free Ph but I did see a table full of Trader Joe items.
looks really really yummy and not so hard to make…. thanks for sharing this MM. I’ll try to make my version one of these days :)
MM, where do you get your padron peppers?
Chinky, I sometimes find them at S&R, in the greens/herbs/salad section.
The tuna concoction is thisclose to Hawaii’s ahi poke. Hmmm ahi poke taco, I like it! Thanks, MM!
MM, this is a dieter’s (is this a word?) heaven. Fish and vegetables.
Marichu, indeed ahi poki taco. Costco now sell ahi poke by the pound in 4 different versions.
Hi MM, I do the same tacos all the time here in Vancouver but never with fish (coz the family is biased with ground pork/beef filling). I also use wonton wrapper (fry them individually). I will do your version this weekend and see what the folks will say. The good thing with this taco is that, you can make it as a sandwhich (like two wonton wrapper with the filling in between) or a very good taco salad (crack the wonton taco wrapper into smaller pieces). Works everytime! The ground pork/beef is just sautéed with onion, garlic, salt n pepper, oyster sauce and sweet soy sauce! Yumm!
you know what will a good vessel too for your fish tacos but only bite size? I use mini rice crackers! this way, those watching their waistlines or glucose numbers like me will enjoy it without feeling guilty!
I think your version can also be called tostada? Footloose….translation please? Pescado tostada a la MM?
BettyQ is correct. These are not tacos, but something like a tostada. Authentic (traditional) tacos are made with soft tortillas. Fish tacos are usually made with white corn tortillas (on the west coast of Mexico), usually two tortillas layered together. Some places deep fry the fish, but it’s pretty common to have grilled fish. Typical west coast garnishes are shredded white cabbage, slices of avocado (not guacamole), chopped tomatoes or pico de gallo, diced white (not sweet) onion or grilled scallions, cilantro, and a “white sauce” that is often simply a light mayonnaise thinned with fresh lime juice. Lime on the side of course.
Fried taco shells are a Tex-Mex thing. ;)
kurzhaar, I would have to agree with you and bettyq that technically, these are far removed from an authentic tacos. But having grown up on fried or baked, pre-formed and boxed taco shells, the bastardized name is not a total surprise to locals… I might have to rename a planned version for our seafood menu that uses fried fish skins instead of a tortilla… So perhaps tostada it is. :)
Maybe fried kropek/krupuk can be used, too, for a total seafood experience? ;-)
Fried salmon skin roll sushi!
No nuts? Call Footloose ASAP! :-)
Beautiful! I have to say I’d be happy with ten of those and a bottle of Veuve, thankyouverymuch!
Happy birthday again, Mrs MM. And to you to, MM! ;)
I love your color combo for the evening. Very fresh and vibrant. Nakakagutom lalo!
MM, is tuna nice to use? I thought fish taco uses softer fish like labahita? Or is it too soft? Tks!
Corrine, the tuna is raw, so it can’t get much softer than that. So yes, it works nicely with the tacos.
Wow! I thought it was grilled..Cool!
Want to try this also…than beef tacos