Dry Rub: Fish Tacos

I wrote recently on dry rubs and this post is a continuation of that. Fish tacos are a staple of our diet, being delicious, easy to make, and if done properly, pretty healthy. While a lot of restaurants and taco trucks deep fry their fish for tacos, at home, I prefer to either bake or sauté the fish, after giving the fish a bit of a spice rub. This way they're both tasty and healthy.

The fish we use most often for tacos is decent enough inexpensive rockfish, of which there are a dozen or more species just off our coast here in Oregon. Don't confuse it with Striped Bass which is known as rockfish all through the mid-Atlantic. At other times, we may use Pacific cod.

Our rockfish here is mild and as fish go, edible enough, but not outstandingly flavorful, so I don't mind giving it a good spice rub to give it a flavor boost. If I had access to and could afford more sought after species, I wouldn't be giving them a spice rub and I wouldn't be serving them as tacos.

Fish Tacos with Slaw, Cilantro, and Roasted Garlic-Chipotle Salsa

For fish taco rub, I use a very simple mixture of ground ancho chile, freshly ground cumin, granulated garlic, salt, and Mexican oregano. I don't put any really spicy component in this rub, preferring to bring the heat in a salsa to put over the cooked fish.

Fish Taco Rub

Fish Ready for Oven

Tender Juicy Fish Ready to Make Tacos

After coating the deboned fish fillets in the rub, I put them on a sheet tray in a 350F oven until the fish just firms in the center of the fillets. You can see in the photo how moist they are, yet they flake apart readily.

Delicious, easy, and healthy, fish tacos make a wonderful quick meal that anyone can make at home.