15-Minute Tilapia Fish Tacos with Corn Salsa — The Tuesday-After-Mother’s-Day Quick Dinner

Mother’s Day Sunday went the way I had hoped. I want to start there, because the recipe today is a quick weeknight dinner from Tuesday, and the quick weeknight dinner only makes sense after the slow Sunday afternoon.

Mama and I made Grandma Carol’s chicken and dumplings together at the stove for four hours on Sunday afternoon. The recipe is one Mama has not made in the twelve years since Grandma Carol died. She had asked me to roll out the dumplings while she made the broth, because if she did the whole thing herself she had said she could not. So I rolled. She made the broth. We worked side by side in the kitchen for four straight hours.

The dumplings in our family are the flat kind, not the dropped kind — rolled out into a thin sheet, cut into two-inch squares with a knife, dropped into the simmering broth in batches so they do not stick together. The dough is flour, baking powder, salt, two tablespoons of butter cut in, just enough milk to bring it together. You roll the dough out on a floured counter to about an eighth of an inch thick. You cut it into squares. You drop the squares into the broth, where they cook in about eight minutes and become tender pillows of chewy dough that have absorbed the chicken broth.

The broth Mama made was a whole chicken simmered with quartered onion, celery stalks, halved carrots, two bay leaves, a tablespoon of salt, and a teaspoon of peppercorns, for two hours, until the meat was falling off the bones. She pulled the chicken out, shredded it, returned the meat to the strained broth. Then we dropped the dumplings in.

What I want to write down is what Mama said while we cooked. She told me stories about Grandma Carol I had not heard. She told me about the small kitchen Grandma Carol had grown up in in 1948 in Sand Springs, the wood-burning stove, the way Grandma Carol’s own mother had taught her the dumplings on a wooden table when Grandma Carol was nine years old. She told me about the chicken-and-dumplings rivalry between Grandma Carol and her sister-in-law in 1965 that lasted twenty years. She told me about the time Grandma Carol made chicken-and-dumplings for thirty people at a church potluck in 1972 and ran out, and how she said it was the worst day of her life until she had real worst days. Mama cried twice during the cooking. I let her have the crying. The recipe was finally coming home.

And then Tuesday I made fifteen-minute tilapia fish tacos because the recipe was the kind of fast weeknight dinner the schedule needed and because tilapia fillets had been on sale at Walmart at $4.99 a pound. The technique is the spice rub and the quick pan sear — tilapia fillets dusted with cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, seared in a hot cast iron skillet for two minutes per side, flaked into bite-sized pieces, served on warm corn tortillas with a fresh corn salsa.

The corn salsa is the secret. Frozen corn (thawed), diced red onion, diced tomato, fresh cilantro, juice of a lime, salt, pinch of cayenne. Mixed in a bowl, sat for ten minutes to meld. Total cost of the dinner: $8.40 for six tacos that fed Mama and me for two dinners.

The sixteenth visit Saturday. Cody got accepted to the writing intensive. The chapbook will print in late August. Cody had already started his first story for it. He told me, at the table, with the kind of careful pride he has been growing into, Kay, I think I might be a writer. I said, you might be, Cody.

The recipe is below. The corn salsa is the part that turns regular fish tacos into restaurant-feeling fish tacos. Use frozen corn thawed if it is not corn season; the texture is the same. Make these on a Tuesday when the recipe needs to be fast.

Homemade Pork Tamales in Red Chili Sauce

Prep Time: 2 hours | Cook Time: 3 hours | Total Time: 5 hours | Servings: 24 tamales

Ingredients

• For the pork filling:
• 2 lbs boneless pork shoulder, cut into 3-inch chunks
• 4 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 2 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• For the masa dough:
• 4 cups masa harina (such as Maseca)
• 2-1/2 cups warm pork broth (reserved from cooking the pork)
• 1 cup lard or vegetable shortening
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• For assembly:
• 1 package dried corn husks (about 24 large husks)

Instructions

1. Soak the corn husks. Place corn husks in a large bowl or pot and cover with hot water. Weigh them down with a plate so they stay submerged. Soak for at least 1 hour until pliable.
2. Cook the pork. Place pork shoulder chunks in a large pot and cover with water by 2 inches. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1-1/2 to 2 hours until the pork shreds easily with a fork. Reserve 2-1/2 cups of the broth. Shred the pork into small pieces and set aside.
3. Make the red chili sauce. While the pork cooks, toast the dried guajillo and ancho chiles in a dry skillet over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes per side until fragrant. Place toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soak for 20 minutes. Transfer softened chiles to a blender with garlic, cumin, oregano, vinegar, salt, pepper, and 3/4 cup of the chile soaking liquid. Blend until smooth.
4. Combine pork and sauce. Toss the shredded pork with the red chili sauce in a skillet over medium heat. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and coats the pork. Taste and adjust salt as needed. Set aside to cool slightly.
5. Prepare the masa dough. Beat the lard or shortening with a stand mixer or by hand until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add masa harina, baking powder, and salt. Slowly pour in the warm reserved pork broth, mixing until a soft dough forms. The dough is ready when a small ball of it floats in a cup of water. If it sinks, beat for another minute or two.
6. Assemble the tamales. Drain the corn husks and pat dry. Place a husk smooth-side up on your work surface. Spread about 2 tablespoons of masa dough into a thin rectangle on the wide end of the husk, leaving a 1-inch border on the sides and the narrow end uncovered. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of pork filling down the center of the masa. Fold the left side of the husk over the right so the masa edges meet, then fold the right side over. Fold the narrow empty end up toward the filled end. Place seam-side down or tie with a thin strip of corn husk. Repeat with remaining husks, dough, and filling.
7. Steam the tamales. Place a steamer basket or rack in a large pot. Add water to just below the basket. Stand tamales upright in the steamer with the open ends facing up, packing them snugly so they support each other. Cover with a layer of extra corn husks and a damp kitchen towel, then place the lid on the pot. Steam over medium heat for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, checking water level occasionally and adding more if needed. Tamales are done when the masa pulls away from the husk cleanly.
8. Rest and serve. Let tamales rest for 10 minutes after steaming so the masa firms up. Serve warm. To freeze, let tamales cool completely, then store in freezer bags for up to 3 months. Reheat from frozen by steaming for 20 to 25 minutes.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 195 | Protein: 10g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 290mg