Halibut Cilantro Sauce Fish Tacos paired with Albariño

These super easy fish tacos are perfect for any summer day, and it’s even better when paired with a light crispy white wine like an Albariño. Not that we need an excuse to drink Albariño, but hey I’ll take any opportunity to drink one of my favorite white summer wines that screams for a white fish pairing.

The Albariño grape is known to grow in the Galicia region of Spain (north west side) situated along the Atlantic Ocean, one such region is Rías Baixas. Albariño from this region is the representation of a wine that expresses “Terroir” due to their proximity to the ocean, cool weather, damp days and wet-stone minerality. The combination of factors like the ocean’s fresh salt water and granite-alluvial soil vineyards provide optimal growing conditions for top quality white wine production.

“Albariño Meet White Fish”

Albariño characteristics are fresh, crisp, mouthwatering acidity, balanced, bright fruit and medium alcohol levels. You can also pick up floral aromatics, stone fruit, and citrus, with light-body flavors of peach, and can be a little tart due to it’s high acidity and minerality which makes it a good pairing with grilled white fish for tacos.

Eating tacos for me is a love affair, and with wine being one of my true passions in life I cherish the opportunity to combine the two in the perfect pairing. And just like my wine, I believe making good tacos is serious business. Having grown up in the boarder city of Mexicali, Mexico the perfect taco is a staple dish with so many options to choose from.

“And just like my wine, I believe making good tacos is serious business.”

So with that said for this recipe I decided to use some fresh caught Halibut for it’s mild sweet flavor, and it’s thick firm white meat texture that makes it easy to handle when cooking in a pan or on the grill. This fish option can be a little more expense than other white fish options, but it’s worth it in my opinion. One of the best places to buy your fish in San Diego is the Embarcadero at the open-air seafood market open on Saturday mornings from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm. You want to be there early to avoid the lines and get the best pieces of seafood.

I was lucky to find my Albariño bottle at my neighborhood market, and without ever trying this particular brand before, I surprised myself with my selection as it turned out to be one of the best whites from Rías Baixas. I selected a bottle of Martin Codax Albariño 2017. It is crisp, elegant and dry. And has aromas and flavors of pear, peach, lime and a little nutty with some minerality and bright mouth-watering acidity.

And with that said, I think it is time to cook.

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Halibut Cilantro Sauce Fish Tacos

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword Fish, Seafood, Tacos

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Ingredients

HALIBUT

• 1 lime Juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 lb halibut cut in chunks

CABBAGE MIX

• 1 cup red cabbage thin sliced
• 1 cup green cabbage thin sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 stalks green onion chopped

CILANTRO AVOCADO SAUCE

• 1/2 avocado
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 cup cilantro
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp fresh lime
• 1 small chile serrano if the chile is big use half
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup water

Instructions

HALIBUT

• Combine all the ingredients from the halibut list. Mix them well in a bowl with the fish, cover and store in the refrigerator for 30 min.
• While the fish is marinating prepare the cilantro avocado sause and the cabagge mix.
• Once you remove the fish from the refrigerator, heat up the saute pan on medium high heat and add the olive oil. One the oil is hot add the fish pieces to the pan giving them space and saute in multiple batches if needed. Cook on each side for 3-4 min. The fish should be done when the pieces are firm and flake easily with a fork.
• In a pan or cast iron skillet or grill cook each side of the corn tortillas
• Assemble your tacos with the fish, cabbage topping and cilantro avocado sauce

CILANTRO AVOCADO SAUCE

• Mix and pulse all ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth.

CABBAGE MIX

• Mix all ingredients in a bowl