Baked Puffy Fish Tacos

I'm showing you how to make amazing, puffy tacos baked in the oven. These are very easy, and I think, the best way to make fish tacos, as you get crispiness in every bite.

I had to cheat and use flour tortillas, and some might argue this is closer to a tostada, but in my world, if it's on a tortilla, and you can fold it, it's a taco. So, with all that said, I will proclaim this to be the best fish taco ever, baked or otherwise.  

This will work with any similar type of fish, but you have to make sure you're cutting it into the same finger-sized strips seen in the video. Thanks to lots of exhaustive testing, I found that two 1.5-ounce pieces were the perfect portion, since that took almost exactly the same amount of time to cook through, as the tortillas did to puff up and get crispy.

Your results may vary. So feel free to do some "exhaustive" (aka, fun and delicious) testing on your own. As far as the toppings go, I generally add as many things to a taco as humanly possible, but in this case, I was uncharacteristically reserved, and really don't think anything else would've made it better. A slice or two of avocado might have been nice, but I couldn't have been happier with how this came out, which is why I hope you give this a try soon.

Ingredients :

 the Sauce:

• ¼ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 dash hot sauce, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, or to taste

For the Fish:

• ¾ pound rockfish
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅛ teaspoon cumin
• ⅛ teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
• ¼ teaspoon chili powder

For the Cabbage:

• 2 cups very thinly sliced green cabbage
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 1 pinch dried Mexican oregano

For the Tacos:

• 4 (6 inch) flour tortillas
• 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced radishes
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced jalapeno pepper (Optional)
• 2 tablespoons torn cilantro leaves
• 1 medium lime, cut into wedges

Directions

Instructions Checklist

• Step 1

  Whisk sour cream, mayonnaise, chipotle powder, salt, hot sauce, and lime juice for sauce in a bowl until smooth. Taste and adjust as needed. Refrigerate until needed.

• Step 2

  Cut fish into eight 1 ½-inch pieces.

• Step 3

  Transfer fish to a bowl; add olive oil, salt, cumin, chipotle pepper, and chili powder. Toss with tongs, thoroughly but gently, until coated.

• Step 4

  Let fish marinate in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

• Step 5

  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

• Step 6

  Toss cabbage, salt, lime juice, and dried oregano together in a bowl with your hands until coated.

• Step 7

  Place 2 tortillas on the prepared baking sheet and coat lightly on both sides with some olive oil. Place 3 ounces of sliced fish on each tortilla, on only one side so that you can fold the tacos after baking.

• Step 8

  Bake in the center of the preheated oven until fish flakes easily with a fork and tortillas are browned and puffy, 7 to 8 minutes.

• Step 9

  Fold tacos in the center of each tortilla to crease. Top with cabbage, followed by jalapenos, radishes, and sauce. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lime wedges to squeeze over. Repeat for remaining 2 tacos.