Eating these fish tacos brought me right back to my college days at San Diego State. As a journalism major in the early 90's, one of my assignments was to interview a local and influential person around town. I chose none other than the local Fish Taco King himself, Ralph Rubio. At the time, Rubio's was strictly a San Diego phenomenon. When I interviewed him, there were only 3 restaurants, all in San Diego...but he had big plans for expansion.
Rubio was a down-to-earth, approachable, and humble guy who shared with me the story of how he fell in love with the fish taco. While in college himself, he and his friends would go on surfing trips to Mexico and it was there, along a seaside taqueria, where he tasted his first fish taco.
The rest is history! Today, there are 190 locations across the nation.
Incidentally, as I recollected all of this, it also reminded me of how my parents used to come visit me at college and one of the stops we HAD to make for sure was to Rubio's. They loved the fish taco, too! They began to look forward to it and came to associate it with my college years.
Isn't it great how food can bring back so many wonderful memories?
Anyhoo, this sauce is AMAZING.
We build our fish tacos on warm corn tortillas with fish, cheese, shredded cabbage, avocado slices, cilantro, onions, a squeeze of lime, and this creamy dreamy sauce.
I have to confess though, I take a short cut by using the Tortilla Crusted Tilapia you buy at Costco. The ease of it is handy and the crunchy, slightly spicy coating on the flaky fish is so good. The kids love it!
With all due respect, I thought these were even better than the fish tacos at Rubio's. :)
All I know is that this sauce is mandatory. It only takes minutes to prepare and you could definitely use it on other things. However, on the fish taco... it sends it over the moon!
The BEST Fish Taco Sauce
makes about 1 cup
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (isn't this the magic and low calorie ingredient of all things creamy? I love using it!)
1/2 cup mayo (reduced fat is fine, too)
1/2 lime, squeezed
1 jalapeno pepper (I didn't have a fresh one so I used some pickled slices in a jar... which I ALWAYS have.)
1 handful of cilantro.
1 tsp onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder (I ran out so I used taco seasoning instead)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder (I ran out so I used taco seasoning instead)
Combine all ingredients in a blender or small food processor. Blend until creamy. Set in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving. It takes time for the spices to “shine”. ENJOY!
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