Flaky white fish works great in tacos since you crumble it into chunks after cooking anyway. We cover the fish first with a paste based on achiote (also known as annatto), which turns a burnished brown-red on the grill. The kicker is a hot habanero salsa, tamed a bit with cooling, creamy slices of avocado. We named this dish for the street that runs through the heart of Latino Los Angeles, as vibrant as the tacos themselves.
SERVES 6 OR MORE
BRICK-RED PASTE
| 1 | tablespoon achiote paste (see Technique Tip, [>]) |
| Juice of ½ lime | |
| 1 | teaspoon olive oil |
| 1 | plump garlic clove, minced |
| 1 | teaspoon ground cumin |
| 1 | teaspoon kosher salt or other coarse salt |
| 3 | 8-ounce to 10-ounce catfish, snapper, or flounder fillets |
HABANERO SALSA
| 4 | small red-ripe tomatoes, chopped |
| ¼ | cup minced onion |
| ¼ | cup minced fresh cilantro |
| 1 | plump garlic clove, minced |
| ¾ | teaspoon ground cumin |
| 1 to 3 | teaspoons Mexican- or Caribbean-style habanero hot sauce |
| 2 to 3 | teaspoons fresh lime juice |
| Salt | |
| Small flour tortillas, preferably no larger than 6 inches in diameter, or Corn Tortillas Rojo ([>]) or other corn tortillas, warmed | |
| Shredded lettuce | |
| Avocado slices |
At least 1 hour and up to 4 hours before you plan to grill the fish, prepare the paste, combining the ingredients in a small bowl. Rub the paste over the fish fillets, wrap them in plastic, and refrigerate.
Prepare the salsa, combining the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, garlic, and cumin. Add splashes of hot sauce, the quantity depending on its level of firepower and your level of heat tolerance. Add enough lime juice to give it a noticeable but not pronounced tang and salt to taste. Refrigerate the salsa until needed.
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium-high to high (2 to 3 seconds with the hand test).
Remove the fillets from the refrigerator and let them sit covered at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Transfer the fillets to a well-oiled grate or, preferably in this case, to a well-oiled small-mesh grill rack or hinged grill basket. Grill uncovered over medium-high to high heat for 8 to 10 minutes per inch of thickness, turning once. Rotate the fillets 180° on each side. The fish is done when flaky and opaque. If grilling covered, cook for the same amount of time, turning and rotating in a similar manner.
Break the fish into bite-size pieces. Serve immediately along with the tortillas, lettuce, avocado slices, and salsa so that your guests can assemble the soft tacos for themselves. The ingredients should be piled on the flat tortillas and then folded over in the familiar taco shape for eating by hand.