This is the taco for company! I have made this recipe over and over and everyone always loves it. It’s the chipotle sauce that makes it, and really how can you go wrong with salmon. It’s the kind of taco that drips down your arm – you are warned.
Makes 12 Tortillas; Serves 6
This is a casual interactive entrée where everything is laid out on the counter or table; family and guests build their own tortillas. Everything can be assembled while the grill is heating. This recipe works well with leftover salmon also.
1 salmon fillet (1.5 pounds)
2 tbls olive oil Chile Spice to rub on Salmon – Santa Fe Spice Chile Blend is excellent – or Tom Douglas’ Smoky Paprika Rub
12 corn tortillas
½ head cabbage (8 oz), cored and finely shredded (about 5 cups)
3 green onions, including green tops, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch lengths
3 tbls fresh lime juice 2 ripe tomatoes, diced into ¼- inch dice
Chipotle Sauce (recipe follows) Preheat the oven to 250 for tortilla warming 15 minutes before serving place tortillas in the oven wrapped in a kitchen towel or heatproof container Preheat gas grill or charcoal to medium Arrange the salmon skin side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Oil the skin generously with olive oil Turn the salmon over and rub with spice – use your fingers to rub oil over the spice Brush the grill with olive oil Grill the salmon skin side down – cook until opaque throughout or thermometer reads 125 – 130 Transfer to a cutting board and let fish cool In a medium serving bowl, toss together the cabbage, green onions and lime juice. Place the tomatoes in a small serving bowl. Slice the salmon into 12 strips; lift the salmon off its skin. Transfer the warm tortillas to a serving plate. Let each diner assemble his or her own tortilla. Start with a generous spoonful of Chipotle Sauce down the middle of the tortilla, arrange a strip of salmon on top, mound with a bit of the cabbage mixture and garnish with diced tomatoes. Chipotle Sauce 1 cup mayonnaise 3 tbls buttermilk or sour cream 2 minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce 2 tbls minced fresh cilantro ¼ tsp salt In a small serving bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, buttermilk or sour cream, chipotle chiles, cilantro and salt Cover and set aside up to45 mutes or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Makes 1 ¼ cup It could be the summer of the fish taco. Craig tore a page from Men’s Journal with the tag line DO SUMMER RIGHT that had a recipe by Rick Bayless (creator of Topolobampo in Chicago and lately of Mexico – One plate at a Time) and put it on my desk in the kitchen. He didn’t know that I loved Rick Bayless – what I can pass on from Rick’s recipe is grilling the fish – and it could be halibut or sea bass instead of salmon, always corn tortillas but instead of the chipotle mayo he makes a salsa out of tomatillos. Nobody is mentioning avocados, but they would be terrific on either recipe.
