Tacos de marlín
Tacos de marlín are tacos filled with smoked marlin cooked into a salpicón with tomato, onion and chile, a staple of Mexico's Pacific coast from Sinaloa and Sonora to Baja California.
Description
Marlin is a large billfish caught off the Pacific coast of Mexico, and smoking is the traditional way to preserve it. For tacos, the smoked fish is flaked and cooked with a sofrito of onion, garlic, tomato and green chile until it becomes a moist, savory hash. Writer and hunter-cook Hank Shaw, who ate the dish in Ensenada, La Paz and Cabo San Lucas, describes it as a major dish of the Pacific coast and especially popular in Baja.
Many cooks make the taco quesadilla-style: a corn tortilla is laid on the griddle, topped with shredded melting cheese and the marlin filling, folded and toasted until the cheese melts and the tortilla takes on some color. Shaw notes the cheese also helps hold the taco together. Flour tortillas appear occasionally.
Smoked marlin
Smoked marlin is sold as a regional product in Mazatlán and other ports, and much of it comes from sport-fishing catches. Shaw points out that cooks in Mexico often use smoked tuna or yellowtail in the same way, and that nearly any smoked fish can stand in.
Luz Noticias, in a Lenten recipe drawn from a Sonora-style fish taquería with branches in Hermosillo, Sinaloa and Mexico City, cooks shredded smoked marlin with tomato, white onion, garlic, serrano chile, thyme and oregano, covered, for about fifteen minutes.
Serving and season
In seafood taquerías the tacos come with a self-serve bar of condiments. Luz Noticias suggests chipotle mayonnaise, a vinegary cabbage and carrot slaw and pico de gallo. Because the dish is meatless, it is particularly popular during Lent and Holy Week.
The filling is versatile. Shaw also uses it to stuff empanadas, and he notes that it can be made a day or two in advance, then simply reheated when the tacos are assembled on the griddle. Hot off the comal is best, with the cheese still soft, but he finds the tacos still good once they have cooled to room temperature, which makes them a practical choice for picnics and beach days.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g smoked marlin (or smoked tuna or other firm smoked fish)
- 2 tablespoons oil or butter
- 1 white onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 serrano chiles, finely chopped
- 3 plum tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- Salt and pepper
- 200 g Oaxaca or Chihuahua cheese, shredded (optional)
- 16 corn tortillas
- Cabbage slaw, pico de gallo and chipotle mayonnaise to serve
Steps
- Flake the marlin finely, discarding skin and dark bloodline.
- Heat the oil in a skillet and cook the onion until translucent. Add the garlic, chiles, oregano and thyme and cook 1 minute.
- Add the tomatoes and cook until they release their juice.
- Stir in the marlin, cover and cook over low heat about 15 minutes, stirring now and then. Season; smoked fish is salty, so taste before adding salt.
- For griddled tacos, lay a tortilla on a hot comal, add cheese and filling, fold and toast until crisp at the edges.
- Serve with slaw, pico de gallo and chipotle mayonnaise.
The filling keeps for two days refrigerated and is also good in empanadas.
Where to try it
- Coni'Seafood, Inglewood, California
- Fábrica de Tacos El Triciclo, Mazatlán
- Mariscos El Pescador, Chula Vista, California
- Mariscos Mocorito, Orange, California
Reviews
Reviews and tips open at launch. Readers will be able to share where they found the best version of this and how they make it at home.
See also
References
- "Tacos de Marlin - Marlin Tacos". Hunter Angler Gardener Cook (Hank Shaw). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Tacos de marlin, una receta fácil, deliciosa e ideal para esta Cuaresma". Luz Noticias. Retrieved 2026-10-10.