Pineapple Mango Fish Tacos

Most fish taco recipes treat hot sauce as the last thing that happens. Here it does two jobs. A quarter cup goes into the marinade, where the acid in the pineapple firms the fish slightly and the fruit works its way in. Another quarter cup gets stirred into crema, which turns it into something you can lay down in ribbons.

The result is a taco where the mango and pineapple read all the way through rather than sitting on top, and the habanero settles in somewhere behind the lime.

Time 30 min · Serves 4 · Sauce Pineapple Mango Habanero Sauce · How it is used 1/4 cup in the marinade, 1/4 cup stirred into the crema

Ingredients

• 1 lb cod or mahi mahi, cut into thick strips
• 1/2 cup Pineapple Mango Habanero Sauce, divided
• 1/3 cup sour cream or Mexican crema
• 8 small corn tortillas
• 2 cups shredded red cabbage
• 1 cup fresh pineapple, diced small
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• Fresh cilantro

Method

1. Toss the fish with 1/4 cup of the hot sauce, the cumin and the salt. Leave it 15 to 20 minutes while you prep everything else. Do not go past 30 or the fruit acid starts to cure the fish.
2. Stir the remaining 1/4 cup of hot sauce into the crema. Taste it. This is your drizzle and it should be bright, not shy.
3. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high until it shimmers. Lift the fish out of the marinade, let the excess run off, and lay the pieces down in a single layer.
4. Cook about 3 minutes a side without moving them, until the marinade has caramelised into brown edges and the fish flakes. Two batches, never a crowded pan.
5. Warm the tortillas over a gas flame or in a dry skillet, 20 seconds a side, until they puff.
6. Build cabbage first, then fish, then pineapple. Drizzle the crema over the top, finish with cilantro, serve with lime.

One more thing

The browned bits left in the pan belong in the crema, so scrape them in. Free flavour.