Long John Silver's Free Baja Fish Taco Tuesday: Never Tried a Fish Taco? This is Your Chance

Long John Silver's Free Baja Fish Taco Tuesday is set for July 14, 2009. Joining other fast food restaurants such as Chick-Fil-A in summer food giveaways, Long John Silver's has decided to highlight their new Baja Fish Taco menu item - for free. No other purchase required.

Finding Baja Fish Tacos at a Long John Silver's may surprise many in the United States who might not be familiar with fish in a taco unless they live somewhere near the coast.

What in the world are fish tacos?

Fish tacos are normally made up of a firm fish - such as cod - which is batter fried or sometimes grilled, placed into a tortilla and covered with shredded lettuce or cabbage and a "baja" sauce which is normally mayonnaise based with some jalapenos to bring some heat.

Long John Silver's Baja Fish Tacos - 4 ingredients and crumbles, too!

Based on information from Long John Silver's website, the Baja Fish Tacos will include Long John Silver's signature batter-dipped fried fish inside a flour tortilla, along with lettuce and their variation of Baja Sauce.

If you're a fan of the Long John Silver's fried fish batter crumbles, don't despair! Crumbles are featured prominently in the picture of the new Baja Fish Taco on the Long John Silver's website, so expect to find them in your taco, too.

Long John Silver's Baja Sauce

The new Long John Silver's Baja Sauce for the fish taco is not yet listed on their nutrition guide (nor is the new Baja Fish Taco) so it isn't clear what Long John Silver's is using in their Baja Sauce or how many calories it will cost you. Baja Sauce is usually made up of mayonnaise, sour cream, chopped cilantro, jalapenos, lime, and avocados. Here is a typical baja sauce recipe.

Other recipes leave out the sour cream, lime and avocados. Instead, they go with a slightly zestier combination of mayonnaise, red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and onion, along with vinegar, cracked black pepper, garlic powder, and cumin as can be found in this different baja sauce recipe.

Either variation would taste great on Long John Silver's fish taco and you can be sure that their version will include some or all of the ingredients from the above recipes. So if you aren't sure that you'll like the Baja Sauce, you might want to ask for some on the side and add it until you get the combination you like.

Where did Long John Silver's get the idea for Baja Fish Tacos?

Most people believe that Baja Fish Tacos originated in Baja California (Ensenada and San Felipe both claim to be the birthplace of baja fish tacos) around 30 to 40 years ago. They then made their appearance in San Diego compliments of Ralph Rubio who owned a chain of taco stores in the San Diego area. You can the learn the whole story of Baja Fish Tacos here.

My first fish taco - can Long John Silver's live up to it?

Although I have had the opportunity to travel to San Diego many times over the years, I never thought about trying a fish taco. Even though many of the San Diego restaurants advertised them, I thought they sounded positively awful.

My mistake!

I had my first fish taco just two years ago at a now-defunct resturant on St. Simons Island, Georgia. After watching plate after plate of them come out of the kitchen, when it was time to place my order, I just had to try one. Let me say, if you like fish and mexican food, you will love the fish taco. I was so surprised at the light - but crisp - and tangy flavor. I was hooked on fish tacos after that. It was a sad day for me when that restaurant closed.

I've had other fish tacos in coastal Georgia and Florida since then, but none of them came close to the one I enjoyed on St. Simons Island two years ago. I can only imagine what I missed by not trying them in San Diego.

Will Long John Silver's Baja Fish Tacos be a hit?

I plan to be in line when Long John Silver's opens its doors for its free Baja Fish Taco Tuesday on July 14th. I haven't been a frequent visitor of Long John Silver's in quite some time. After all, now that I live on the coast, it is cheap and easy to cook fresh seafood myself or find it at dozens of other restaurants. But, I like that Long John Silver's is introducing the Baja Fish Taco throughout the country and will certainly go out and give them a try.

Hurray for Long John Silvers and more free Baja Fish Tacos for everyone!

Long John Silver's Baja Fish Tacos
Free: Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Available from Store Opening until 2:30 p.m.
Long John Silver's Locations and other information can be found at www.ljsilvers.com

Sources:
Long John Silver's, ljsilvers.com
Marisol de la Cortiz, Baja Sauce Recipe, www.cdkitchen.com
TexasDoll714, Baja Sauce Recipe , www.allrecipes.com
Matthew Jaffe, In search of the real fish taco - includes related articles on taco techniques, and guacamole, bnet.com