Coleslaw, Makes Fish Tacos Great!

It’s little wonder we find some form of cabbage relish or salad on currently wildly-popular fish tacos.
We are long used to seeing coleslaw alongside fish dishes and fish sandwiches. What is new for us is the great marriage-taste we find between toasty corn tortillas and any style of coleslaw.

Coleslaw is defined as a salad of finely sliced or grated green, red or Napa cabbage, usually moistened with a mayonnaise dressing which is usually “doctored-to-taste” by the cook. “Doctoring” frequently includes some sugar, herbs, milk for thinning, buttermilk and vinegar or lemon juice.

A coleslaw southwestern recipe (next door to Mexico) would add to a mayo base honey, lime juice, jalapeno peppers, red onion and cilantro.

There is also a choice of cabbage conditioning methods for making coleslaw:

If you want to achieve a quick “wilted, relaxation” look for the cut-up cabbage, put it in the microwave, on high, for a minute. Then add remaining ingredients. It can be briefly microwaved again, if necessary.

Another way to achieve “wildted” is to heat any liquid before adding it to the coleslaw dressing.

A third way to crumple the cabbage is to salt the cut cabbage, squeeze hard against a colander, then sit aside to soften for about an hour.

Coleslaw is a highly diverse cultural thing, spicy-hot in the southwest and west, mustardy in the south east, plainer in the northeast, and so it goes. Below are regionally optional items to add to coleslaw to be used in fish tacos or with other foods.