Phish Taco Phenomenon

Right, let's get one thing straight, this has nothing to do with the band Phish.

I had my first try at making fish tacos last night and it went really well. I also took this opportunity to try out another hot culinary trend - plank grilling - because, well, because I'm just so hip it hurts.

Yeah anyway, plank grilling is a technique that apparently orginated with native American tribes in the Pacific northwest. It's a gentle way to cook fish on the grill and it also imparts a rich smoky flavour. The flavour and degree of "smokiness" depends on the type of wood used. I went for alder which has a mild, slightly sweet flavour; other choices include cedar, hickory and maple. I used an untreated, pre-cut plank about 18" long 6" wide and 1/4" thick that I got at whole foods. It's best to soak the plank in water (for at least and hour) before you put it on the grill. Once the grill is hot you put the plank on the grill and let it warm up for three minutes before flipping it and warming it on the other side. You then turn it back over again, pop your fish on the plank and close the lid of the grill. The old rule of five minutes per inch of fish should be roughly doubled when using a plank (though you don't have to flip the fish) unless you like your fish on the rare side.

I've eaten fish tacos several places but by far my favourites were at Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island, so I stole the basic format from them.

The Fish

I took a 3/4lb sashimi-grade tuna steak and marinated it in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of one lime, one crushed clove of garlic, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of finely chopped crushed chipotle pepper, 1 teaspoon of cumin, a splash of beer (I used Modelo) and salt and pepper to taste. I mixed all the marinade ingredients together well, adding the beer last, and then poured it into a re-sealable plastic bag with the fish and left it all in the fridge for an hour.

Garlic Chipotle Sour Cream
I remembered that there was a creamy chipotle something-or-other on Poe's fish tacos but the details were murky, so I just winged it. Chipotle is a mature (ie. brown or red) jalepeno pepper that has been smoked. It has a really delicous and unique flavour. They may be hard to come by in the UK, a lot of tex-mex stuff used to be anyway. Unortunately, I'm not sure what you could use to replace them, since they really make this dish. I combined half a cup of sour cream, one clove of garlic and one teaspoon of crushed chipotle peppers (finely chopped), mixed it all well and then let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to let the flavours mingle. While that was chilling I started on the pico de gallo.

Pico de Gallo
This ubiquitous mexican condiment is one of those things that everyone makes slightly differently. For my version I chopped up four large spring onions (or scallions if you're a yank) one and a half medium tomatoes (cubed) and a good handful of finely chopped corriander leaves, mixed them all together then added the juice of half a lime and a little salt and pepper.

The last two ingredients for the fish tacos were finely chopped red cabbage and grated Monterey Jack cheese. White cabbage works just as well and mild cheddar would proably do as a substitute for Monterey Jack.

So, once you've got all the ingredients together it's just a matter of heating up the grill and getting on with it. Take a warm 8" flour totilla, smear a little sour cream in the middle, add the cabbage, pico and some chunks of tuna and top with the cheese. Honestly, I think this might have been one of the best meals I've ever made. It was frikkin' - ney fucking - delicious.

Yum!


-Mr. Ed