Tacos are very popular in the states and the trend has been to mix the Mexican traditional taco with Asian ingredients. This combination have been a huge hit with a fusion of Korean bbq and Mexican food. This trend inspired  me to create a Vietnamese version of the fish taco based off of a traditional northern dish comprise of fish with turmeric and dill or  chả cá thì là. This recipe change the traditional sauce and the accompaniment to create a fusion fish taco. I tested this recipes on 4 teenagers and they could not get enough of it. This is a bonafide crowd pleaser for your next gathering.

This recipe serves 6 and is rated medium in difficulty. This recipe takes approximately 30 minutes to prepare and require marinating the fish for at least 1 hour.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of tilapia filet or any other firm white fish of your choice

2 large bunches of dill

3 stalks of spring onion

1 tablespoon of lemongrass

2 tablespoons of minced garlic

½ of diced yellow or red onion

1 tablespoon of potato starch

2 tablespoons of Galangal powder (you can use fresh galangal is you can find it)

3 ½ tablespoons of Fish Sauce

1 can of coco rico soda

½ teaspoon of turmeric

Fresh ginger- enough to get ½ tablespoon of juice

1-2 red thai chili (optional for heat)

Spiracha

Salt

Sugar

Ground black pepper

Vegetable oil

White cooking wine

Roasted peanuts for topping

Shredded icebeg lettuce for topping

Shredded red cabbage for topping

1 package of soft corn taco

Directions:

Rinse the fish filet with ½ cup of wine and 1 teaspoon of salt to remove any fishy smell. Rinse again with water to remove any wine and salt.

Slice the fish into 2 inches pieces.

Marinate the fish with the following ingredients:

2 tablespoons of Galangal powder, 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder, ½ tablespoon of fish sauce, ¼ teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon of potato starch, 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of lemongrass, 1 tablespoon of diced onion and ½ tablespoon of ginger juice (ground the ginger and squeeze out the juice)

Dice a handful of dill and add 1 tablespoon of dill to the fish and let the fish marinate for 1 hour.

Cut the dill into 2-3 inch segment and set aside.

Cut the 3 stalks of spring onion into 3 inch segment. Cut each segment lengthwise into quarters.

Heat a pan on high and coat the surface with oil. Brown 1 tablespoon of diced onion and add the spring onions to fry once the diced onion become translucent. Fry the springs onions until it becomes soften, but not completely wilted. Add the dill and toss to wilt the dill. Remove from the pan.

Wipe the pan with a paper towel and heat the pan with enough oil to pan fry the fish. Once the pan is heated, add ½ tablespoon of minced garlic and 1 tablespoon of diced onion. Pan fried the fish until it is cooked. This should take approximately a few minutes on each side.

Make the lime fish sauce by combining the following:

1 can of coco rico, 3 tablespoons of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of minced garlic , 1-2 red thai chili diced (for heat), 1 teaspoon of spiracha and 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice

Warm up the taco in a pan or oven. Place a piece of the fish on the taco, add some dill, onion mixture, the lettuce and cabbage mix, and a drizzle of the sauce. Enjoy this fusion fish taco with a cold beer.

For more recipes, visit our EAT page or Recipe Index.

Authors: Susan Tran and Chau Hoang