Fish Tacos

The Simmering Seoulmate and I have been eating a lot of Mexican food lately. We only have one month left in Korea and we are trying to hit up all of our favourite spots. We have been to Coreanos, Gusto Taco, and Vatos over the past couple of weeks.

Vatos was a big favourite of ours about three years ago when we first lived in Seoul, back when it was at its small back ally location. We enjoyed munching on Kimchi Carnitas Fries and sipping on margaritas, while hanging out with friends. Over these past three years, many Mexican fusion restaurants have popped up all over the city and we’ve sort of forgotten about Vatos because we’ve found a few other places we prefer. This past month, we ventured back to Vatos and it has become a new favourite again, so we’re glad we went back.

Fish tacos are something we’ve tried at several of the restaurants, but both of us enjoy the Vatos ones the best. The fish to taco ratio is perfect and the fish is moist with a crunchy batter. We decided to try and make our own fish tacos and they turned out fantastic! Check out the recipe below and enjoy!

Fish Tacos

Ingredients 8 tortilla shells cherry tomatoes purple cabbage red onion lettuce

Fish 2 tilapia fillets 1/2 cup flour 3/4 soda water 1/2 tbsp cornstarch salt to taste

Sauce 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt 1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp dried dill

Directions

For the slaw topping, chop about one cup of red cabbage and place in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients and stir until well mixed. Spoon two tablespoons of the sauce into the cabbage and mix. (Keep the rest of your sauce for another dinner. It pairs well served over both chicken and fish.) Set slaw aside. Chop and prep the rest of your desired toppings and set aside, as these tacos should be served immediately. For the fish, cut each tilapia fillet into four equal strips. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Slowly pour the soda water into the dry ingredients and stir gently. Heat a large pan with an inch of canola oil, over medium high heat.  Dip your fish pieces into the batter and fry in pan, until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on a dish lined with paper towel. Build your tacos and serve immediately!

Makes 8 fish tacos.

Check out my chicken taco recipe here!

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

Happy Sunday! I hope you've all have a nice relaxing weekend. Summer is finally here! In Korea, rainy season has just begun. It’s really not that bad, you just get used to carrying an umbrella with you everywhere for a few weeks. It doesn't usually rain all day either. Last night, the Simmering Seoulmate and I braved the rain and sticky heat and went out for dinner with a friend at our favourite Mexican place in all of Seoul, Gusto Taco. It’s a small restaurant right next to Sangsu station that serves up excellent tacos, nachos, burritos and one of my personal favourites, taquitos, which come served in a cute cauldron of cheesey goodness. Of course they serve delicious cocktails too. 

The night was filled with rain, friends, food, and a little debauchery in Hongdae of course. All in all a great way pick me up.

With summer finally here, blueberries are finally in season, and while still expensive, I thought I’d buy a package and whip up something delicious. While I debated for a long time about using them in the pancakes I made recently, I decided to go with muffins instead. I also had a bunch of lemons in the fridge so those are the flavours I went with. This recipe also uses yogurt, which I found quite interesting. It made the muffins perfectly moist and they tasted amazing. They also froze well, which made them last longer! I will definitely be making them again! Yum!

Blueberry Lemon Muffins
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients
1 egg
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
zest of one lemon
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen, I used fresh)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 ̊ F (190 ̊ C). In a large bowl combine the butter and egg and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour in yogurt and heavy cream and mix together with mixer for about 30 seconds. In a medium bowl, sift together sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture a half at a time. The mixture will be quite thick, more like a cookie dough consistency. Fold in blueberries. Line muffin pan with paper liners and spoon mixture into each one. Pop into the oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.

Makes 10 muffins.

P.s. If you enjoy Mexican and are in Seoul, defiantly check out Gusto Taco. I know I will be back there again very soon!

Chicken Tacos for Two

This is a super easy lunch that tastes delicious. I made this twice last week, because both my boyfriend and I loved it so much. Beef is pretty expensive here in Korea, so I thought chicken would be a good twist on a regular taco. I enjoy the texture of shredded chicken, but you could make a variation of chicken tacos with chopped chicken if you prefer. See how I made this yummy lunch below.

All the toppings

The yogurt I used in place of sour cream. Couldn't tell the difference!

The seasoned, shredded chicken

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
1 tbsp taco seasoning
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp water
5 small flour tortillas
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup lettuce
1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
8 cherry tomatoes
any other taco toppings you would like

Directions
Place chicken in a pot filled with water and boil for about 15 minutes. While chicken is boiling, prepare your taco toppings. I chopped up some lettuce and cherry tomatoes, and grated about a half of a cup of cheddar cheese. I didn't have sour cream, but I found a plain yogurt at my local mart, that had a low sugar content and tasted almost identical to sour cream. Win! After your chicken is cooked through (check the inside with a knife, if it is still pink, boil for another 5-10 minutes), use two forks to shred the chicken. Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat and add shredded chicken. Sprinkle the seasoning over the chicken and add about 3 tbsp of water. Stir. Heat the chicken until it has a good crisp to it. Assemble your tacos and enjoy!

Makes 5 delicious tacos.