The Underrated Fish Red Lobster Uses For Its Fish Tacos

You can make a fish taco out of just about any fish in the sea. Rubio's, known for popularizing the dish, uses Alaskan pollock as the base for their tacos. So do Del Taco, Long John Silver's, and El Pollo Loco when they serve fish. Other places may use cod, flounder, even mahi mahi, and wahoo, on occasion. The standard is definitely a light, flaky white fish. Red Lobster still uses a flaky white fish, but they offer customers something a little different in the form of tilapia.

Alaskan pollock is used so often because of its versatility. The flavor is very mild, so it's not overpowering in a taco. It allows all of the ingredients to shine while still having a pleasant taste and good texture. That makes it ideal when you want to taste the vegetables, the seasoning, and the tortilla at the same time. However, tilapia has an even milder taste than pollock. The flesh is flakier which could mean it doesn't hold up quite as well under heavy toppings and sauces.

Tilapia also has a little more fat than pollock, which could make fish tacos taste a little richer. It also means it may complement the toppings Red Lobster uses better. Its tacos are topped with a slaw, pico de gallo, lime crema and cilantro. Each one of those ingredients has brightness in the form of either freshness or acidity. A fattier fish can complement any of those toppings, and with all four combined, a richer fish like tilapia really shines.

Tilapia has a bit of a bad reputation in the fish world, especially if you haven't eaten it in 10 or 20 years. Back then, a lot of the tilapia in America wasn't produced in the best conditions, and was farmed by prison labor in Colorado and raised in giant vats. As farm-raised, freshwater fish, tilapia was not always perceived to have the freshest taste. The flavor was often described as muddy or dirty. But that was the tilapia of the past, and improved farming techniques are raising cleaner, fresher-tasting fish. The FDA now considers tilapia one of the best fish you can eat.

Because tilapia is so mild, it has proven to be incredibly adaptable to all kinds of world cuisine. It has allowed chefs to explore flavors with a lot more versatility than with stronger-flavored fish, or those that can't hold up to as many cooking styles. Tilapia is also great to cook from frozen, which makes it a reliable option for home chefs on short notice.

Tilapia is generally more affordable than other kinds of fish, and the quality keeps improving. Modern farming techniques have made water cleaner, and that translates into better-tasting fish. Even though in the past people might have looked down on tilapia, times have changed. Like any ingredient once raised in poor conditions, now that people have taken the time to improve the product, it deserves a second chance. If you can't make it to Red Lobster, try this sweet and spicy tilapia recipe and see for yourself.