george's fish "tacos"
Not sure if you know this (wink), but george’s is my absolute favorite restaurant in the world. And, lucky me, it happens to be a five minute drive from my house.
One of their long time signature dishes was their “fish tacos.” For a long time, unless you were a regular, the menu didn’t even feature a description of the dish. Simply a disclaimer that you had to try it to find out, and not to spoil it for anyone who didn’t know. Lately that description has changed to include, “yellowfin tuna, california avocado, corn nuts,” but that’s all the description you get.
Now, i’m not kidding, when I tell you, that if we weren’t doing a tasting menu, and merely sharing an assortment of on menu items, we always ordered the “fish tacos.” Always.
It’s one of our all time favorite dishes. It was simply delicious.
I can’t even begin to compare to it, but after a year plus of not being able to quench my cravings, I decided it was past time to try my hand at making my own version of this amazing dish. It certainly wasn’t the original, and nowhere near as pretty... but, I will certainly be making it again and again, whilst i dream of the time it will come back to the menu, and I can sit by the water and enjoy my favorite dish.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sea salt corn nuts (I use the love corn brand)
1 1/2 sashimi grade blue fin (or yellowfin - whatever is fresh and on hand at your fishmongers)
3 Tbsp kewpie mayonnaise
1 Tbsp siracha (less if you don’t like spicy)
1/2 tsp salt
3 avocados peeled, pitted, and each cut into 8ths
3/4 cup casava flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp trader joe’s onion salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 cups lime sparkling water
enough avocado oil to fill a cast iron pan about 1/4 inch high
additional salt for sprinkling
micro greens
6 radishes, sliced
1/4 red cabbage, thinly sliced
Directions:
Place corn nuts in a ziplock bag, and pound until turned into crumbs. Set aside.
Slice the ahi, in 1/4 slices, rectangles should be approximately 1 1/2 inch by 3 inches, depending on the dimensions of the fish. Reserve 12 slices. Keep until fridge until ready to assemble.
Dice the remaining slices, and then chop through them, so it’s super minced. Place in bowl. Add kewpie, siracha, and 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix to combine. Leave in fridge until ready to assemble.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together casava flour, tapioca flour, 3/4 tsp salt, onion salt, paprika, and sparkling water.
Fill a large cast iron sauce pan about 1/4 inch full with avocado oil. Heat to medium-high heat.
Once oil is hot, and bubbles if a small amount of batter is dropped in.
Dip avocados wedges into batter, coating on all sides.
Place in cast iron skillets in batches, turning until golden brown on all sides. Once golden brown, remove from heat, and place on a paper towel lined tray. Sprinkle with salt.
To assemble:
Set 4 pieces of avocado on each plate, leaving a space between them.
Coat the 12 rectangular pieces of ahi in corn nut crumbs by tossing in the ziplock bag. Fold each piece in half and fill the inside with the spicy tuna mixture, like a taco. Set each “fish taco” in between two avocados, so there are three tacos to 4 pieces of avocado on each plate.
Spoon 4 -6 teaspoon sized drops of avocado aioli on each plate. Top avocados and tacos with radish slices, micro greens, and cabbage.
Enjoy.