If you’re still on a health kick from the beginning of the year, then I have just the recipe for you. These incredible fish tacos, Vietnamese-inspired, weigh in at just 310 calories for 2 tacos. No guilt! You can’t beat that because the flavors in these tacos are out of bounds. As we ate these, I almost felt like it was summer outside, warm and sunny.
I chose a halibut fish here, but haddock or sole fillets would work just as well. Use whatever white fish you like. The marinade is quite simple to make but it does require fish sauce which is quite common to use in Vietnamese cuisine. I know a lot of you may not like fish sauce because of its strong smell, so if you don’t care for it, go ahead and use a low sodium soy sauce instead. Turmeric is what gives the fish this wonderful yellow color. Turmeric is a very powerful spice and has a long impressive list of uses and benefits. Feel free to add moreif you want.
While the fish is marinating go ahead prepare the salsa which is incredible all on its own. It’s loaded with different herbs such as basil, cilantro and mint, then lots of cherry tomatoes, green onions and red onions. I also added some fish sauce to this salsa, again feel free to replace it with a low sodium soy sauce.
Once the fish has marinated, you can pan fry it in a little bit of vegetable oil. It will cook quickly so you’ll only need do pan fry it for 2 to 4 minutes per side. Make sure you do this in at least a couple batches because you don’t want to over crowd the fish in the pan. But that’s about as difficult as this recipe will get.
All that’s left for you to do is to assemble the tacos. I started with some shredded cabbage for a bit of a filler in the taco, but this is totally optional, then take some of that yummy fish and flake it up a bit with a fork, and finally top with plenty of that fresh salsa. Of course, I had to drizzle plenty of Sriracha sauce on mine, but that’s totally optional. You’ll love these tacos, so refreshing, so healthy, but still full of flavor. Win win!
Ingredients
Fish Marinade
- 1 tsp turmeric *
- 1 tsp fresh ginger minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp fish sauce **
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- 1 1/2 lb halibut fillets cut into 2 inch pieces
Salsa
- 6 green onions chopped
- 1/2 red onion chopped
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh mint chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
- salt and pepper to taste
- Other Taco Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 12 medium tortillas
- 2 cups cabbage shredded
- Sriracha sauce optional
Instructions
- In a medium size bowl combine all the fish marinade ingredients together, excluding the fish. Add the halibut pieces to the bowl and toss making sure each pieces is coated in the marinade. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, toss all the salsa ingredients together in a medium size bowl and refrigerate until ready to assemble tacos.
- In a non stick skillet, heat the 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil. Add about half of the fish fillets and fry for about 2 to 4 minutes per side, they should start to lightly brown. Add the other tbsp of vegetable oil and repeat with remaining fish.
- To assemble the tacos, fill each tortilla with some of the shredded cabbage, then with the halibut. Feel free to flake the fish a bit with a fork if necessary. Top with the tomato salsa generously then drizzle with some Sriracha sauce if preferred.
- Notes
- * Turmeric is a powerful yellow spice made from a plant of the ginger family. Turmeric has a lot list of health benefits, for nearly every system in the body. It's known for its antioxidant content and ability to work as an anti-inflammatory.
- ** Fish Sauce is a liquid that's amber color and is extracted from the fermentation of fish with sea salt. This can be substituted with low-sodium soy sauce.
- You can use any type of white fish that you prefer, or that is available to you.
- Nutritional information is based on 2 tacos!
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
_________________________________________________________________
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 6
