Recipe: Shark Tacos

Here’s a quick and simple recipe that I threw together for dinner tonight. It turned out really well. My measurements are approximate, because I don’t measure. Also, I made extra for leftovers…

This recipe started because my son wanted to try the shark steaks that Publix sells sometimes. This weekend we finally got them, and I figured out how to cook them. Tonight, I altered that and made tacos.

Ingredients:
1 shark steak (1/2 lb) (I don’t know what kind… mako?)
1 to 2 tbsp unsalted butter
4 corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups broccoli slaw
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning to taste
Salt, to taste

Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add 1 tbsp of butter until melted and hot. Place shark steak in butter. It should sizzle a bit, but I think you’re basically poaching the shark in butter. Cook for a few minutes on each side – when the first side is done, it should release easily from the pan. If you’re unsure if it’s done, go ahead and cut it in the center to check doneness. We’re making tacos – it doesn’t have to look pretty.

While it’s cooking, prep your slaw. I used this Eat Smart stuff from Publix. I put a handful (1 1/2 cup maybe) in a cereal bowl, and then squeezed the juice of one lemon and one lime over it, and sprinkled some of the Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning. You could figure out your own seasoning with some chili powder and whatever, though. I just had this stuff on hand because I try to stay low sodium. I don’t think I could call this low sodium though, because this dish needs salt. Set this aside while you finish your fish.

Here’s that Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime stuff so you know what bottle to look for:

If your shark isn’t done cooking yet, start prepping some margaritas.

You could also separately prep your taco shells, but here’s how I did it. When the shark was done, I set it aside, and then using the same butter that I cooked the shark in, I fried the tortilla shells… they weren’t perfect taco shells, but they were delicious. A few minutes on each side, then fold them over onto a paper towel so they drain…

I sprinkled the shark with just a bit of the Mrs. Dash, and then I took the bowl of my slaw mixture, and poured the leftover lemon/lime juice at the bottom onto it. Just enough to flavor, and to get the liquid out of the bowl… Too much liquid will make your tacos soggy.

I sliced the shark on an angle to the grain (there’s probably a chef-y word for that). In the shells, I put a bit of the broccoli slaw in each, then a few slices of fish. 1/2 pound of shark was plenty for four small corn tortilla tacos. Once assembled, I added some coarse salt from a salt grinder, because it really needed it, making what was a low sodium dish into something that still might be low sodium, depending on how you measure. Or, leave the salt out. Or save it for the rim of your margarita.

Enjoy.

Movie Review: The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger was pretty good. It was maybe 20 minutes too long, but the action scenes were great. Most critics are panning the film, even though they say it’s fun, but that it’s long and over done. I agree only in part, because I think the movie is ultimately supposed to be fun, so the critics should be recommending it based on that.

The film has also gotten a lot of flak because of the whitewashing of Tonto. It did bother me a little that Depp was playing a Native American, but I was expecting them to play it off like the character was adopted into the tribe or something. And even if you say “well, Depp is part Cherokee,” he doesn’t even really know. I probably have as much or more Cherokee blood in me. I read a quote that he was trying to break away from Native American stereotypes in films. I don’t see how he could be successful at that. He still spoke in stereotypical stilted English, displayed ambiguous mysticism…

In the 50’s, the Lone Ranger TV show at least cast Jay Silverheels, who was Mohawk. Making Tonto partly white seems like a step in the wrong direction.

I’ve also heard criticism that the scenery in the film is nothing like Texas (and it was mostly filmed in New Mexico (and some Utah, Colorado and Arizona). Maybe that can be explained away somehow.

At the end of the day, it’s Johnny Depp’s ethnicity that affects my opinion of the film, though I liked everything else and thought it was fun. It’s not quite to the caliber of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Oh, wait… there was something else offputting in the movie: carnivorous bunnies. How did they belong?