Chili Lime Catfish & Corn Tacos

Oklahoma City is blessed to have such a diverse cuisine range in its restaurants. We have a little bit of everything here; Southern homecooking, Korean, Thai, Indian, even African food.

But one of the shining stars in the food establishment engrained in our city hails from the southwest side. Once you drive south of I-40, you’ll find family-owned Mexican restaurants and bakeries and snack shops on every corner.

I love to venture down there and hit up snack shops that are called Neverias, or paleterias (ice cream/popsicles!). Usually I’m there to get a big cup full of horchata, but the snacks plastered on the big vibrant menu boards always catch my eye.

One fixture that is always present on these menu boards is corn in a cup, or elotes. It’s just yellow corn mixed with mayonnaise, grated cheese (cotija or Parmesan, typically) and then doused in chili powder. One thing you realize after visiting real Mexican food places is they pour chili powder on everything, even fruit.

With a craving for corn in a cup and a bag full of catfish in my freezer, I thought of the most brillant idea: tacos.

Okay, maybe not brillant. Simple, sure. Creative, yes. Delicious, even more yes.

I marinated my catfish filets (or Swai, to be technical, but they are catfish and taste much better than the American version) in lime juice and two different types of chili powder: chipotle and ancho. If you can, buy those two spices. You’ll never go back to regular chili powder again.

I just baked the fish in the oven, but it would be good grilled or pan-fried, too. The real winner was the corn in a cup style topping, which I added fresh jalapeno to kick it up a notch. The two paired perfectly! There’s nothing better than a simple and spicy taco to warm you up in the winter.

Best advice for these tacos: grill the corn tortillas. They get a little crispy but still pliable, and give the tortilla much more flavor. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over the top plus queso fresco to crumble, and you have yourself a delectable fish taco!

Step-By-Step Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place catfish filets in a shallow baking dish. Pour lime juice of filets and sprinkle with chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Rub all over fish.

Bake for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove and let cool for 2-3 minutes. Flake fish into chunks for the tacos.

Heat large pot of water to a boil. Add shucked corn and boil for 5-7 minutes or until tender. Remove and let cool. Make the corn topping: Scrape kernels from corn cobs into a large bowl. Mix in mayonnaise, butter, cheese, lime juice and chili powder.

Grill corn tortillas (or warm up in microwave). Make the tacos: pile a few spoonfuls of fish and top with corn topping. Sprinkle with lime juice, cilantro, and queso fresco.