Low FODMAP Fish Taco Recipe

Fish Tacos + Remedy Kombucha Pink Grapefruit = a match made in foodie heaven! Our go-to foodie guru George Eats has whipped up a low FODMAP fish taco recipe that is simply perfect for Taco Tuesdays... or Taco Wednesdays, or Thursdays, or Fridays. 

Take it away, George!

INGREDIENTS

700-750g firm white skinless fish (I used Rockling)

1 teaspoon fine table salt

3 teaspoons cumin powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon Korean chilli flakes (or regular chilli flakes, to your tastes – see notes)

1 teaspoon dried Mexican or regular dried oregano

Pinch of asafoetida powder (optional, see notes)

½ - 1 tablespoon fresh and fine white rice flour (optional, see notes)

For the lettuce mix:

200g lettuce, finely chopped

¾ bunch coriander, finely chopped (remainder used for garnish)

Chopped pickled jalapenos, to your tastes

Squeeze of lime juice

Lime zest, to your tastes,

Seasoning, to your tastes

For the crema:

200g lactose free sour cream

1 tablespoon lime juice, to taste

1-2 clove pickled garlic cloves, grated (see notes)

Drop of liquid smoke, optional

To finish:

40-80ml (2-4 tablespoons) neutral oil, for cooking the fish

Pickled red onion (see notes)

Extra pickled jalapenos, to your tastes

Lime wedges and lime zest, to your tastes

12 small corn or gluten free tortillas (see notes)

Remaining coriander, to serve

METHOD

Step 1: Combine the seasoning mix in a small bowl. Liberally coat the fish in the dry seasoning mixture and set aside.

Step 2: Combine the ingredients for the lettuce mixture in a large bowl and season according to your tastes. Make sure you chop the lettuce finely so it isn’t too large or pokey to fit in small tacos. Massage the seasoning into the lettuce slightly to soften it, then set aside.

Step 3: Combine the ingredients for the crema sauce in a medium bowl. Adjust according to your preferences and set aside.

Step 4: Heat a large non-stick pan very thoroughly over a medium heat. Once it is thoroughly heated, add 1-2 tablespoons of neutral oil and 2-3 fillets of fish. Cooking them in two batches (if necessary) ensures they don’t get too soggy in the pan.

Cooking time depends on the size you are using and the width of the fillets. 8-10 minutes is ideal timing for thick fillets of Rockling.

Turn the fish incrementally to ensure it is evenly cooked through. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining fillets, washing the pan first if necessary.

Once the fish is cooked, take it off the heat. I find Rockling benefits from 5-10 minutes to drain off any excess liquid.

Step 5: Use two forks to flake the fish into large chunks. You can heat it through gently if it needs it.

Step 6: Heat your tortillas and assemble your fish tacos – crema, lettuce mix, fish, ½ - 1 tablespoon of pickled red onion, extra coriander and extra jalapeno if you like. Serve with an ice cold Remedy Grapefruit kombucha.

Leftover fish keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

RECIPE NOTES

• I use Korean chilli flakes which have a beautiful red colour and less heat than regular chilli flakes. If you use regular chilli flakes, use them to your tastes. Note that they do contain fructose, so I recommend capping the chilli at 1 teaspoon and adding extra pickled jalapeno to your taco if you like extra heat (they are low FODMAP in serves of up to 500g).

• Asafoetida powder is a low FODMAP alternative to garlic and onion powder. It is optional, but does add a nice depth of flavour. A little goes a long way so I recommend only a pinch. Note that some asafoetida powder is cut with wheat flour, so check the label if you are catering to a coeliac.

• White rice flour is optional but does add a little crispiness and helps soak up a bit of liquid. Make sure it’s finely milled and fresh (not the stuff in the box) so it doesn’t ruin the texture of the fish.

• Pickled garlic is low FODMAP in 3g serves and up to 29g. It is an optional ingredient to add an extra layer of flavour to the crema (but it still tastes good without).

• Pickled red onion is low FODMAP in serves of up to 60g. Monash hasn’t specified but I assume that this only applies to properly pickled onion as opposed to quick pickled onion. I have a recipe for low FODMAP pickled onion on my website.

FODMAP NOTES

• Blue corn tortillas are low FODMAP in 44g (2 tortilla) servings, but don’t contain moderate GOS and fructan until they exceed 370g (17 tortilla) servings.

• Corn tortillas without gums or fibres are low FODMAP in serves of 3 small tortillas. Corn tortillas with gums or fibres are low FODMAP in serves of 2 small tortillas.

• Monash doesn’t specify which FODMAP is in corn tortillas, but my semi-educated guess is fructan as other processed and fresh corn products contain fructan.

• Pickled onion is low FODMAP in serves of up to 60g per person. In serves of 85g, it contains moderate levels of fructan.

• If you malabsorb fructan and want to eat more than 3 tortillas (or love pickled onion) I recommend using my recipe for gluten free tortillas. It makes 23 small tortillas. This drastically reduces the fructan content of the recipe so you can enjoy more tortillas and more pickled onion.  

• Smoked paprika, chilli powder and pickled garlic all contain fructose. The thresholds are all far under a low FODMAP amount when divided by 4, but it something to keep in mind if you have fructose issues. For those who do, I recommend omitting the pickled garlic cloves from the crema.

•  Cos lettuce contains moderate amounts of fructose in serves of 182g per person. This recipe uses 200g lettuce divided between four people. If you malabsorb fructose, you could use Iceberg lettuce instead of Cos. Iceberg lettuce doesn’t contain moderate fructose until it exceeds serves of 488g per person.