Outstanding fish tacos ever. Anyone who eats them will advise you to start your own restaurant right away. I’ve heard several people say, “I don’t like fish, but these tacos are amazing!” Diet ginger ale is my recipe’s secret ingredient. Many people use ginger beer, but I like the diet variety since I think the batter is crispier and lighter while still retaining the full ginger beer flavor. Make them, eat them, adore them, and include them in your menu plan. If desired, add jalapeño slices on top.
| Prep Time: | 35 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 50 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 8 tacos |
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon diced onion
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped pickles
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 cups chopped cabbage
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- ¼ cup chopped green onions
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons minced fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 quart vegetable oil for frying, or as needed
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ cup diet ginger ale
- 1 pound tilapia (bream), raw
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 8 (6 inch) corn tortillas, warmed
Instructions
- Mix mayonnaise, onion, pickles, and lemon juice for tartar sauce in a bowl until well combined. Refrigerate until needed.
- Combine cabbage, carrots, green onions, and cilantro in a bowl. Mix garlic and ginger with rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and sesame oil in a small bowl; pour over slaw and toss to coat. Refrigerate until needed.
- Heat 1 1/2 inches oil in a deep pot over medium heat.
- While oil is heating, mix flour and baking powder together in a bowl. Slowly add ginger ale and mix to combine. You don’t want the batter to be overly thick; excess batter should be able to coat the fish entirely, but still be able to drip off.
- Pat tilapia chunks dry and dredge in the batter until thoroughly coated.
- Test the oil by adding a few drops of batter in it; when the batter begins to bubble and float, the oil is ready. Working in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pot, carefully lower some tilapia into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat with remaining tilapia.
- To serve, place slaw on warm tortillas. Top with tilapia and tartar sauce.
- We have determined the nutritional value of oil for frying based on a retention value of 10% after cooking. Amount will vary depending on cooking time and temperature, ingredient density, and specific type of oil used.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 974 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 57 g |
| Cholesterol | 63 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Protein | 31 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 914 mg |
| Sugars | 5 g |
| Fat | 70 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
These were great! The only thing I changed is using regular ginger ale (some that’s not as sweet as name brand) because I hate diet anything. Also used a bag of slaw mix instead of chopping the cabbage and carrots. I wasn’t sure if all the flavors would mesh, but even with our homemade guacamole on the side it was very tasty! Surprisingly, I didn’t taste any sugar in the fish. The only thing I’d add next time is salt (to the fried fish). My husband and kids thought it was good too!