Amigos! What is the best fish for fish tacos??

Planning on frying up some fish and making fish tacos tomorrow for lunch (off day). What type of fish do you guys use? I've heard people say tilapia or cod. What is the best? Any one here of Mexican heritage?

Wife always uses tilapia. Seems to hold the spices well.

We're not Mexicans though.

Mahi Mahi/dorado/dolphin or Ahi/yellow fin Tuna I wouldn't use anything else

My Chilean buddy uses sea bass. Its fucking excellent.

Anything other than talapia.

God I hate that fish.

I am with this guy. Tilapia is a prep item, not fish.

If you knew how they are raised (farmed) you probably would not eat them

+1 for Sea Bass.

I have made fish tacos with Flounder and it wasn't half bad either.

The most important thing is that the fish needs to be as fresh as possible. Same day catch.

Depends if you are frying them up or grilling. For frying cod and alaskan pollock work really well if you are going to grill them. Mahi Mahi, swordfish and halibut work really well. For the white sauce mix half mayo and half sour cream. Golden Dipt makes a good pre-packaged beer batter mix for frying.

I prefer cod for fish tacos, but the fish is not nearly as important as the slaw.

I tried to resist but all this slaw and white sauce talk has me in a rage. Slaw? Sloppy flavor masking glop? Are you guys serious?

A really good homemade citrus and chile focused salsa and a careful use of a white bean puree, on corn tortillas, kicks that gringo shit out of the park.

what slaw talk? I saw one guy mention white sauce

moparman is the smartest dude in this thread.

I do have to admit though, blackened mahi-mahi is a good thing too.

A wise man once told me, that if someone gives me something they call slaw that is creamy/milky, it's not 'slaw'.

Cabbage + fish =

I would disagree a bit. I'm well aware that tilapia is a white, very much tasteless fish. The only reason I disagree is a family member of mine owns a Mexican restaurant that sells fish tacos, and they're currently using marinaded tilapia. It was flavorful, juicy, and just absolutely the best fish tacos I've ever had besides a resort in Mexico that had fish tacos of orgasmic levels.

OP, if it's not too late, allow me to suggest adding fresh, chopped mangos into the tacos. My uncle uses mango, chipotle cream sauce, fresh squeezed lime juice, and some pico de gallo.

Well then.

Let us hear your recipe. It sounds like you have something tasty there.

We do some really awesome fish tacos with blackened tuna seared to just rare.

Grouper...

I concur. I do want to hear about your citrus/chile focused salsa!!

btw: I used tilapia and was a bit disappointed. I will try haddock or cod next.

Ask and ye shall receive, but be careful, it is too hot for most. You can adjust the ratios as you see fit. Also if you don't want to use the papaya you can substitute tomatoes or tomatillos.

It is pretty basic, 1:1:1 ratio.

Green (unripe) shredded papaya. Can find at asian food stores.
Chiles. I use a mix of habanero and arbol.
White onion.

Salt and pepper to taste, then the whole thing gets marinated in mexican lime juice overnight. You can find these at mexican food stores if you have a decent population in town. Alternatively you can use yuzu juice, which you can pick up at the asian market. Very simple, and goes amazing on fish tacos. The green papaya gives it a consistency similar to the slaw they use at gringo fish taco places.

ETA: Don't ignore the overnight part. It lets the onions "gas out" so they aren't super harsh. If you use a really sweet onion like a walla walla you can skip it, but its not as good imho.

Tilapia, catfish, you name it. I wouldn't use anything expensive. My favorite is tilapia though - the filets are so easy to cook. It doesn't have a lot of flavor, so it's a good canvas for spices and other things. For fish tacos, I either pan-sear it with blackening spice, or make a seasoned corn meal dredge and then pan fry it. For the tacos, I use cole slaw mix cabbage (no slaw dressing) and make my own ancho-chipotle dressing with mayo and yogurt.

OK, my wife is Hispanic and she suggests tilapia or mahi mahi.
She would not waste expensive fish on tacos.

The coastal areas of Mexico use whatever fish they bring home.

Mahi mahi
Talapia
Swai
Cod

I have used all of the above with good results, although it was a challenge with the cod.

I like cod, haddock, and grouper. Tilapia is a little bland, but you can jazz it up, and it'll be fine.

What is expensive is very relative to where you live. For example, cheap fish here = salmon. And to me, salmon does not equal food. ;)

at work i usually use mahi, blackened. sometimes i get a request for shrimp. i used to go the fried route, but not anymore. i also make a basic pico de gallo (seed the tomatoes please), some shredded cheddar, jack, or oaxaca, shredded cabbage, avocado-mango relish, and either avocado-lime crema, or sriracha aioli. tilapia is evil and should not be considered food. salmon is just above tilapia, especially farm-raised. grouper, sea bass, snapper, halibut, and john dory are good choices as well. of course all of this is just my professional opinion.

This is true. If you don't like salmon, don't use it.
All my wife was pointing out is that Mexicans use whatever is cheap and available depending on the region.
Fish tacos on the West coast of Mexico are not the same as on the East coast.
and if you go to the tourist ares, it is different than the rural areas.

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