Tonight I went to the birth-place of Fish Tacos for dinner. Ok maybe not the birthplace but the place that popularized it in the US and made it San Diego’s “signature dish”.

Ralph Rubio brought the fish taco to the US and San Diego in 1983. He first tried them while down in Baja for spring break. He tried to get the owner of his favorite taco stand to move up to San Diego… but he wouldn’t budge. Rubio lucked out though and manged to get his recipe, which the stand owner scrawled on a napkin. The recipe only included the ingredients, not quantaties. Through a bit of experimentation, Rubio perfected the recipe.

Rubio makes his fish tacos with a beer-battered and deep-fried fish filet, shredded cabbage, salsa and creamy white sauce that gets folded in a soft corn tortilla. He opened his first stand in Pacific Beach/Mission Bay in old Hamburger stand. It took a while to catch on, but now Rubio’s is a regional chain, with over 140 locations,

I ordered the 3 fish taco meal, which came with chips and a drink. It was excellant. The fish had a light crisp batter on them and the tortillias were thick and a little a chewy. The secret sauce brought it all together with a little tangy-ness.

The original stand is at 4504 East Mission Bay Drive in San Diego.

I found this recipe for Fish Tacos. I haven’t tried yet, but it looks good to me!

Classic Baja Fried-Fish Tacos

Baja street vendors aren’t big on written recipes, so we identified the key ingredients from the best fish-taco stands to create this recipe.

Prep and cook time: 25 minutes

Makes: 10 servings

• 1 cup dark beer
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• About 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 pounds boned, skinned lingcod
• Salad oil 20 warm corn tortillas
• About 5 cups shredded cabbage
• Mayonnaise thinned with a little water
• Tomato salsa
• Lime wedges

1. In a bowl, whisk beer, flour, and salt, blending well.
2. Rinse fish and pat dry. Cut into 10 equal pieces.
3. In a deep 5- to 6-quart pan, heat 1 inch salad oil to 360 [degrees]. Using a fork, coat fish pieces with beer batter and lift out, draining briefly. Slide coated fish into oil, about 5 pieces at a time. Adjust heat to maintain oil temperature. When fritters are golden, in about 2 minutes, lift out with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on paper towels; keep warm. Repeat to fry remaining fish.
4. To assemble each taco, stack 2 tortillas; add a fish fritter, cabbage, mayonnaise, and salsa. Squeeze lime over filling, fold tortillas, and eat.