If you live in Chicago, like me, you know how rough winters can be. Don’t get me wrong, I love the solidarity and grit that surrounds wintertime in the City of Broad Shoulders, but by late January, it starts to weigh on you.
I recently used the dropping temperatures as an excuse to visit San Diego. SoCal has tons of great qualities: sun, surf, salt, and most of all, seafood! On my last day in Cali, I had an incredible fish taco and since I got back home, it’s all I can think about. So, naturally, I decided to recreate it. A fish taco is a beautiful thing: crispy batter, soft tortilla, spicy slaw, simple culinary harmony. Alright, enough prologue, let’s talk food.
When selecting fish, let the preparation be your guide. In this case, we’ll be battering and frying, so a lean, flakey white fish is going to give us the best result. Mahi-mahi is a great option, but if you’re looking to go easy on the wallet, cod, haddock, and tilapia will work great as well. These lean cuts will stay juicy and hold up well to frying. If you want to learn more about fish selection and cookery, check out our Culinary Boot Camp! It's a crash course that will give you an excellent foundation to feel confident in the kitchen.
We’re going to make a super simple beer batter for this recipe. It follows a 1:1 ratio, in our case 1 cup flour and 1 cup beer. Remember, recipes will guide you, but ratios will set you free. A beer batter is a great example of something that’s easy to scale up or scale down depending on your needs.
The last piece of this legendary taco I so desperately want to recreate is a tangy chipotle slaw. We’ll dress our vegetables with a, admittedly far from authentic, spicy “crema” sauce. Blended chipotle pepper, mayo, little bit of sugar, and a squeeze of lime and viola - we have a condiment that would make a shoe taste good. Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but so is calling this “crema.” I never claimed to be authentic… or honest for that matter.
For the fried fish:
1 lb flakey white fish of your choosing
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup light beer
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3-4 cups frying oil
Avocado (for topping)
For the chipotle slaw:
2 cups cabbage thinly sliced
1 cup mayo
2 chipotle peppers in adobo
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
- Pat dry and season fish on all sides with salt and pepper. If necessary, cut into roughly 1” x 3” pieces.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, beer, baking powder, salt, pepper, and chili powder (optional) until it forms a smooth batter.
- In large heavy bottom pot, heat frying oil to 350 degrees.
- One at a time, dunk and coat the fish in the batter. Gently add them to the hot oil and let cook for 3-4 minutes or until internal temp reaches 145 degrees
- For the slaw, blend mayo, chipotle peppers, lime juice, sugar, salt and pepper. If sauce is too thick add water 1 tablespoon at a time until desired thickness.
- Remove from blender and toss with cabbage until evenly coated.
We have a hands-on Baja Coastal Kitchen class coming up in March. That calendar will be released this Friday, January 30, so mark your calendars to sign up for that class so you can learn how to make and enjoy this Baja, California inspired menu:
- Shrimp Ceviche with Avocado, Cilantro and Tortilla Chips
- Achiote Grilled Baja Fish Tacos with Shredded Red Cabbage and Lime-Chipotle Crema
- Mexican Rice and Beans with Poblano Peppers
- Margarita Cake with Lime Glaze and Toasted Coconut
