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Maui-Style Snapper

Unlike Baja fish tacos, which are deep-fried in batter, those made Maui-style are grilled. In all my travels, whenever I’m near the ocean—whether it’s in Hawaii, Mexico, Alaska, Thailand, or Australia—there has always been a small stand somewhere that serves the local catch in an affordable, portable (usually grilled) form. One of my funniest fish taco experiences occurred in a small town in Alaska where we had stopped for supplies during a sailing trip through Prince William Sound. There in front of us was an old school bus painted in bright, tropical colors now converted to a walk-up kitchen selling, of all things—Maui tacos! We were a long way from Hawaii, but the methods were the same—the local catch (salmon and crab, in this case), simply grilled and served with salsa on fresh tortillas. To reduce the heat of this dish, you can substitute Tabasco for the habanero hot sauce. If necessary, to prevent the pieces of snapper from falling through the grill grate into the fire, use a seafood grilling screen. The pineapple can be grilled ahead, if you prefer, and held at room temperature. Both the pineapple and snapper can also be grilled indoors on a nonstick ridged grill pan. For the pineapple use medium heat, 5 minutes per side; for the fish, very high heat, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Ingredients

makes 8 tacos

1 small pineapple, peeled, cored, and sliced into rings
1/4 cup habanero hot sauce or Tabasco sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless red snapper or mahi mahi fillets, cut into 2 1/2 by 1/2-inch strips
8 (5 1/2-inch) soft white or yellow corn tortillas (page 13), for serving
Garnish: Iceberg Lettuce Garnish (page 144) and avocado wedges
  1. Step 1

    Prepare a charcoal or gas grill. In a large bowl, toss the pineapple with the hot sauce. Grill the fruit slices over very low heat until browned and caramelized, 10 minutes per side (don’t let the slices blacken or burn). Cut the pineapple rings into small wedges and set aside.

    Step 2

    Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the oil, lime juice, and salt and marinate the snapper strips in the mixture for 5 minutes (the oil will help prevent the fish from sticking to the grill). Once the pineapple is done, grill the fish over medium-high heat until cooked through, turning once, about 6 minutes total. Remove from the grill and serve immediately.

    Step 3

    服务,奠定玉米饼并排,开放的前沿空中管制官e and overlapping on a platter. Divide the lettuce, fish, pineapple, and avocado equally between the tortillas and top with salsa. Grab, fold, and eat right away. Or build your own taco: lay a tortilla, open face, in one hand. Spoon on some lettuce, filling, avocado, and salsa, and eat.

Tacosby Mark Miller with Benjamin Hargett and Jane Horn. Copyright © 2009 by Mark Miller with Benjamin Hargett and Jane Horn. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. Mark Miller is the acclaimed chef-founder of Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has started and owned thirteen different restaurants on three continents from 1979 to 2008. He is the author of ten books with nearly 1 million copies in print, includingTacos, The Great Chile Book, The Great Salsa Book, andCoyote Cafe. Mark currently works in International Culinary Consulting and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Benjamin Hargett is a travel-loving chef who has cooked in Europe, the Carribean, Mexico, and the United States, where he worked with Mark Miller at the Coyote Café for many years.
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