Mahi-Mahi

A fast and easy marinade, tangy pickled onions, and tender seared fillets make these fish tacos a weeknight favorite.

With the nearly year-round availability of zucchini and cherry and grape tomatoes, this dish brings color and flavor to the table any time you’d like.

This is a winning-contestant recipe from Season Four of FOX's MasterChef.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Mexican classics, check out the video classes.

Mild mahi Mahi takes on the flavors of our zesty marinade.

Unlike Baja fish tacos, which are deep-fried in batter, those made Maui-style are grilled. In all my travels, whenever I’m near the ocean—whether it’s in Hawaii, Mexico, Alaska, Thailand, or Australia—there has always been a small stand somewhere that serves the local catch in an affordable, portable (usually grilled) form. One of my funniest fish taco experiences occurred in a small town in Alaska where we had stopped for supplies during a sailing trip through Prince William Sound. There in front of us was an old school bus painted in bright, tropical colors now converted to a walk-up kitchen selling, of all things—Maui tacos! We were a long way from Hawaii, but the methods were the same—the local catch (salmon and crab, in this case), simply grilled and served with salsa on fresh tortillas. To reduce the heat of this dish, you can substitute Tabasco for the habanero hot sauce. If necessary, to prevent the pieces of snapper from falling through the grill grate into the fire, use a seafood grilling screen. The pineapple can be grilled ahead, if you prefer, and held at room temperature. Both the pineapple and snapper can also be grilled indoors on a nonstick ridged grill pan. For the pineapple use medium heat, 5 minutes per side; for the fish, very high heat, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

You can use other types of firm, white-fleshed fish, or even shrimp or chicken.

We think this is one fine fancy-pants dish. The sweet potato crust not only seals in the succulence of the fish but also gives it a crunchy, caramelized coating. The sauce of roasted red peppers simmered with lots of aromatics makes for a sexy finish.

After a few weeks in a brine of salt and lemon juice, lemons develop an appetizing, lightly pickled taste. Brian makes Moroccan-style preserved lemons at the winery and keeps a stash on hand to use in recipes like this one. The seasoned butter would complement swordfish, sole, shrimp, or salmon, or you could dollop it on steamed mussels or clams. For this dish, Brian slathers the butter on the grilled fish served over Frank Stitt’s Field Pea and Corn Salad (page 64), but wilted spinach would be an appealing accompaniment, too.

WITH A MEATY TEXTURE AND MILD FLAVOR, swordfish pairs flawlessly with bold ingredients. The caper-onion sauce, with bracing white wine and lemon, brings big flavor to the fish. If you can’t find swordfish, substitute another meaty fish, such as mahi-mahi.

Rémoulade is an all-purpose fish sauce, a super spicy, chunky variation on mayonnaise and perhaps the Platonic ideal of tartar sauce. You can use it with poached, baked, fried, even leftover fish, but I think it’s best with grilled fish. Swordfish is the most obvious candidate, but you can grill steaks of cod, mahimahi, mako, salmon, or tuna and serve them with rémoulade; monkfish is also good. This combination is pretty rich; I’d be satisfied with a decent bread and a salad or steamed vegetable dressed with no more than lemon juice.

When the cooking times match up, it only makes sense to cook a protein and a starch together, as in this combination of fish and rice. It’s almost a one-dish meal, and I say almost because you do need to pull out a little bowl to make the spicy-sweet salsa while the pot simmers on the stovetop. This features my favorite way to make rice, an adaptation of the traditional coconut-milk rice that tastes good but is high in fat. The proliferation of coconut water as a healthful drink found in most supermarkets gave me a lighter—and, frankly, better—way to do it, and I haven’t looked back. Be sure to buy juice labeled 100% coconut water, as some juice-pack brands have other flavorings you wouldn’t want here, and some canned products include sugar and preservatives, defeating the purpose altogether.

Salpicón—a shredded mixture of fish with herbs and seasonings—is traditionally made with left-over fish that is tossed with fresh ingredients and used as a filling for tacos or a topping for tostadas. I find the sauce so delicious that I like to pair it with freshly seared fish and let it stand on its own. Definitely keep the sauce in mind for times when you do have leftovers!

Try halibut, mahi-mahi, or tilapia in this recipe, too. Leeks and bacon are so delish . . . add some fish and they become good for you, too.

Mahimahi has a large, moist, and pleasantly firm flake. Topping it with briny feta, herbs, and lemon slices evokes the warm shores of Greece.

In this simple, fresh-tasting dish, a crisp coconut coating keeps the fish moist and gives it real island flair. Chef Roxanne Russell grates and dries her own fresh coconut to get long, beautiful strands, but any grated dried coconut will do.

Originating in Baja California, fish tacos are now served along Mexico's coasts and in Southern California. But unlike the deep-fried versions that are so common, ours entails grilling meaty mahimahi for a smoky char that contrasts deliciously with the fresh, clean Garnishes.

A lovely vinaigrette, enhanced with pan juices and the flavorful punch of a little tapenade, makes this simple broiled fish taste deep and complex.

The mild flavor of mahimahi is a perfect match for this wonderfully balanced tamarind glaze. The famously tart fruit is sweetened with brown sugar and brought to life by soy sauce and lime juice.

An intense Mediterranean topping really brightens the flavor of this fish.

Mahimahi is on of Hawaii's most popular fish; firm-fleshed and mild-flavored, it can be cooked in almost any manner and cloaked in almost any sauce. I like the flavor of citrus with mahimahi, enhanced by some spicy peppercorns. Sweet bananas, a hint of coconut, and macadamia nuts add to the tropical flavors in this light dish.