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Today, I’d like to share with you my delicious new recipe of Blackened Cocoa Fish Tacos, which has a fantastic mix of coffee & cocoa powder. Coffee infused with cocoa is also a great alternative to coffee + cocoa powder. After my nearly month old post on South American inspired recipes, I’ve found myself on a bit of Latin kick. While I haven’t explored much of Boston’s offerings–honestly I’ve been told that there’s not much to explore anyway, I mean we don’t even have Valentina or Tajin, you guys; the struggle is real–I love making my own Latin dishes whether it’s tacos, nachos, enchiladas, or mole. Seeeee, I don’t only eat sushi & various Asian food, gosh.
Lacey, one of my best friends who’s currently studying abroad in Sydney, took note of my absence on TB the other day. She knows I loathe Facebook, so I don’t update it, which means she doesn’t get updated on what I’m doing with my life unless it’s on my Instagram or I text her. Well Lacey & other curious/noisy people, I’m updating, so I hope you can handle it. You ready?? I’m ready.
Last month, my former roommate Gaby visited me in Boston. She had never been before & wanted to eat ALL THE THINGS. Not only did Gaby & I share a bedroom back at our days at UCLA, we also share very similar backgrounds. Both our fathers are physicians, our parents are immigrants, our cultures value family & good food, & obviously, we both grew up in Southern California. Aside from all that, Gaby is a delight to dine & travel around the city with. She’s up for anything & eats it all, raw, cooked, fermented, whatever! She has a much stronger aversion to fennel than I do, which makes pho–a very popular Vietnamese noodle soup–on her list of, “I wish I could like it, but it has fennel [seeds].” So while she was here, we avoided Vietnamese food because no one (besides Vietnam) does Vietnamese food like SoCal anyway & went for New England’s finest: clam chowder, lobster rolls, & oysters. Gaby didn’t get to try my tacos, she did get a bowl of my Bun Rieu, a delicious Vietnamese tomato & crab noodle soup that happens to both be our favorites. It’s my specialty Vietnamese soup & her favorite thing I make. I hear she’s paying me in a surprise package of Valentina & Tajin, so I’m really excited. La vida es mejor picante!! Una vida sin picante es una vida muy triste. Muchas gracias, Gaby. 🙂
Blackened Cocoa Fish Tacos
Even though I’ve been a pescetarian for about 4.5 years, I’ve only been asked what my favorite fish is once. No one really cares I suppose. 🙁 So, like an annoying oversharer, I’ll tell you: the answer is Sea Bass, but I rarely order it since it’s endangered & overfished. Tied with salmon, my second favorite is sablefish or more popularly known as black cod. I could only find Atlantic cod in my local Trader Joe’s so that’s the fish I used in my recipe, but it is also, overfished & vulnerable. However, if you can get black cod, I’d recommend it. Cod varieties (not Atlantic) are great alternatives to Sea Bass as they’re abundant, flaky, & so buttery. It was also first time I made cabbage slaw & it was so tasty. A great combo of tangy & salty!
I recently splurged & bought myself a Le Creuset Dutch Oven in Caribbean (teal, obvi; it’s my obsession) at a heavily discounted rate so you can count on a refried bean or baked beans recipe soon. If you’ve been thinking about getting a Dutch oven, just do it. Le Creuset has a lifetime warranty & it makes your cooking & cleaning experience so much better. So many new recipe opportunities. MUCH HAPPINESS. 😀
Gaby Visits Boston, We Eat Everything
She was here from April 2nd until April 5th, so there are lots of photos, but I’m only selecting some to be featured in the post. Remember to click through the links at the bottom for more photos.
Museum of Fine Arts + Oishii
Brunch
Island Creek Oysters + Picco
Latest Additions
Played catchup on all the photos I never got around to since…Christmas. So, check them out because I spent HOURS editing & posting these guys up.
- Blackened Cocoa Fish Tacos Recipe
- Sunday Brunch
- Brunch
- The Art of Boston
- Surrey’s
- NOLA
- The Big Eatsy
- Lüke
- Sushi Koto
- Kaisen
- Mo Ran Gak
- Vegas Eats
- Christmas (password protected for family)
- Din Tai Fung
Latest Jam » Just Peachy + Green Maté Iced Tea
YUM. Tiffany, your posts always make me hungry! Which is a good thing since it’s a testament to your photography and cooking skills XD
I’m glad Gaby had a blast with you! It’s always great when friends come to visit in your area. I just had a good friend visit me, and the last day and a half was spent with her as we had as much Korean food we could get!
And I find it interesting that your favourite fish is the sea bass. I’m not big on seafood, so I don’t exactly have a favourite, but I do like mackerel and tuna 🙂
Why thank you, Tara! 🙂 I love Korean food so I’m very jealous of you & your friend’s delicious Korean food adventure. I have to visit Korea one day!!
I’m not a fan of mackerel & while I love tuna, it is an endangered species so I try to avoid buying it as much as possible, even the canned ones!
Yessss fish tacos, one of my favorite foods 😀 Your recipe looks really good! (The recipe link is broken at the end of your entry, by the way!) I really like sea bass too, but I didn’t realize it was endangered 🙁
That’s awesome that your former roommate visited! I love going to restaurants with friends who are very open to different types of food. The kaiseki lunch you guys got looks amazing. Also, those oysters! The best raw ones I’ve had were when I visited Boston. I wish we had ones that good here.
I enjoyed looking at your photos from the Museum of Fine Arts, especially the Hokusai exhibit and the tsunami one. That looks like a great museum to visit 🙂 Also, are those soup dumplings in your last gallery? Aahh, I really want some. Those are also one of my favorite foods 😀
Thank you for letting me know, Cat! I fixed it this morning. yeah restaurants don’t exactly seem to care so they keep serving it. It’s also why it’s so expensive though. I went to Maine last week & their oysters were also superb, but I feel that the best ones I’ve had have been here in Boston too. I’m sure you could find some restaurant that’ll sell you some great west coast ones!! Or maybe some from Louisiana!
The Hokusai exhibit was beautiful. My pics obviously don’t do it justice.
Yes indeed!! Soup dumplings. I want to make some straight pescetarian ones because I mostly see pork & shrimp. Rarely do I ever see any vegetarian ones. They are fantastic though!!!
Thanks for sharing your favorite type of fishes c: Thumbs up for being cautious of vulnerable fishes as well!
Myself: sea bream, trout and salmon are absolutely my favorites!
I have relatives living in Boston and I’d love to see this city someday! Again, it sounds like you had a great foodie time with your friends c: Xx
I like your favorites too!
You should definitely visit Boston one day. It’s a very charming city & it’s extraordinarily beautiful in the spring, right when the cherry blossoms bloom & all the tulips have been planted. Although it’s also beautiful when it snows too, just not so much when it starts to melt.
every single time i go to your blog and all i want to do is cry at how beautiful the pictures are and how skilled at cooking you are. oh man, i love love tacos. wait, correction: i love latin cuisine ugh. i had to laugh a bit there at how people only think you eat sushi / asian food all the time :)) is that how people really think? haha
i love black cod! my mother tried looking for it in the market (because she loves hunting for new fish especially if i’m the one requesting it. so yeah, she loves buying all sorts of weird fish and i love trying them out) but no one knew about black cod. i wonder what the people here the fish hm… and i rarely come across restaurants who serve black cod too. AND OMG SEA BASS IS SUPERB but yeah, it’s sad how some of the really delicious fish are now endangered 🙁 then again, i tend to eat and love almost every fish (except for catfish – i don’t really like them as much. indonesians tend to love them so much though) like a cat i was born to be 😛
omg the oysters…. the eggs benedict… even the lobster! i’m not a huge fan of crustaceans (yes i don’t eat crabs and prawns) but that lobster looks really appetizing. you always eat good food ugh i envy you :))
Bahaha aw Alice, you flatter me!! Thank you for your kind words. I’m going to leave you a bunch of comments because I’ve missed out on your posts. It’s always such a delight to see your photos & adventures too.
I think that some people think that’s all I really eat. To be honest, I will almost always choose Asian cuisine over New American because like…I don’t know how many more different ways I can eat mac & cheese…..but anyway, I would pick ethnic cuisine over any new American place. I just like exotic flavors more oh well.
I love black cod! It’s also called sablefish. It’s kind of difficult for me to find it at certain grocery stores myself, but Japanese restaurants I’ve been to tend to have it with a miso glaze. I love catfish haha I’m not the biggest fan of certain mackerel but other than that, I pretty much like them all.
You eat good food too!! I only eat like this when people visit me or if I’m traveling. Gotta experience the city’s best offerings!
Awesome photos and glad that you and Gabby had a good time ^^ Food looks hella delicious!
Fish tacos are one of my favorite meals but I rarely eat them because my husband won’t eat fish. But I might have to make these next time he travels because the flavors from the cocoa and coffee bean sound incredible!
And I would have to say my favorite fish is Mahi Mahi but I’ve never tried Sea Bass. It’s such a shame that so many varieties are endangered!
This weekend I came to the realization that I need more fish in my life. Have you been to the New Deal Fish Market in Cambridge? I’m planning on checking it out this weekend in the hopes of scoring some amazing fishies to cook up.
And let’s talk about your tantalizing fish. I’m loving this recipe and, with a couple of tweaks, I can easily make this fit into my low carb diet (ignore all the cakes on my blog. . .those are for friends and family). I also want to have an outdoor taco party this summer. . .and I think this fish is a “must include” on the menu.
Btw. . .couldn’t help but notice (and drool) over your photos from Pico. I swear their pizzas come straight from heaven. I’ll have to check out some of the other restaurants you ladies noshed in. The food looked amazing.
Looks yummy =) Man, now I am craving it. While I am not South American, I do have that Latin blood in me from my dad. He’s from El Salvador and so his country has amazing food like pupusas which you should try to make and eat. They are amazing. You should do Central America food, you’d love it! ^^ (I know I commented once, but I had a though!)
Very cool that your dad is El Salvadorian, it makes you El Salvadorian! Or at least half, unless he’s not ethnically El Salvadorian. I’ve had pupusas before & they’re quite delicious! I’ve got a lot of recipes I need to post, but haven’t quite gotten around to yet. I’ll look into some possible future Central American recipes to post in the future. 🙂 Thanks for the second comment, Michelle!
Okay, my mouth is watering with that first picture. It looks so good! i love cod too. ♥ I’ve never had Sea Bass, now I’m curious since you said it was your favorite. I’m so glad my taste buds grew with my age. I use to hate anything fish but that is not the case anymore.
Sounds like you had a nice time with Gaby. It is awesome to find people who have a lot in common with you.
Dang it, I do not want to go eat in our nasty hospital cafeteria after seeing all these pictures of yummy food. LOL
As you age, you’ll actually have less tastebuds than when you were a kid! But the point is that your tastes should mature given that you also mature & are more open to trying new things. Sea Bass is soooooOOoOoOoo good. It’s what black cod wishes it could taste like, hahaha! But regardless, it’s really highly discouraged that you try not to order it until it’s off the endangered species list. It, as well as bluefin tuna, have high levels of mercury, so it’s probably best you avoid it all together, especially if you’re pregnant (well I doubt either of us is, but the point is to be safe & aware than sorry).
I don’t think I’ve ever knowingly tried sea bass… I should keep an eye out for that. I always just kind of eat anything that’s in front of me, haha! I do love my salmon though. That one I know for sure.
I loveee all these food pictures you’ve updated with! I wish I could take as many when I go out to eat and/or cook. I feel so awkward pulling out my big camera and have everyone stare. Maybe I should just not care about it. 😛
Glad you and Gaby had a great time! I love spending time with friends who aren’t picky about their food. Makes eating so much more adventurous!
& yum, fish tacos! I have a weird thing with tacos. I really don’t like anything in taco form unless it’s a fish taco. So, I bet this recipe is perf for me! Thanks for sharing 🙂 I’m going to give it a try. It is a nice change from eating sushi all the time over here too.
I’m pretty sure you’d know if you ate it considering its market price is very expensive. It’s not a fish that is just thrown in sushi or in a taco, that’s for sure! But be on the lookout to avoid eating it. Should be easy since it is really expensive anyway haha. I love salmon too! Wild-caught salmon is the best salmon to eat & some of the healthiest fish you can eat.
You’re right, you should JUST NOT CARE. I used to be really reluctant too, but now I have a DGAF attitude about it, so long as I’m not ruining someone else’s dining experience. The thing is, if you want great shots of delicious food you ate, JUST DO IT. Regret nothing!!!!!!! No shame. Just don’t be annoying about it, that is all.
Hmm I definitely love tacos, fish or shrimp or veggies! But maybe it’s just an ingredient thing for you?? Cooking at home will definitely help you save some money instead of buying sushi all the time. I’ve been trying hard not to order it. The instant I get paid, I think, “…SUSHI…” but yeah gotta stop. TREAT YOSELF….to the grocery store haha.