I love fish tacos. Problem is, there aren’t that many places to get them in Toronto. Back when I lived in New York I used to have fish tacos for brunch at Dos Caminos Soho and they were great. Until one day they changed the batter to more of a breading and then they started grilling the fish. No dice. When I visited LA a few years back everyone told me to go to Rubio’s for their fish tacos. I managed to hit up a Rubio’s and thoroughly enjoyed the fish taco and of course the white sauce.
Every once in a while I get a craving for fish tacos but it goes unfulfilled. A mediocre fish taco might as well be a bad fish taco because it’s so anti-climatic. Don’t give me a fish taco loaded up with ingredients. No cheese, no sour cream, no lettuce, no tomatoes. I like my fish tacos with cabbage, maybe some red onion and of course white sauce. Oh, and the fish better be fried, none of that grilled nonsense. Truth be told I have no clue how people in Baja really eat their tacos so I just use my delicious-o-meter to gauge.
After much searching on the interwebs I found a post on The Paupered Chef that seemed to capture what I desired in a fish taco. I opted not to make tortillas from scratch out of laziness, I’m sure they would be much better than store-bought.
From start to finish it took about an hour to get dinner on the table which wasn’t too bad at all. I started out by making the sauce. I loved that the sauce had capers in it! They lend a nice briney goodness to the whole mix. I didn’t have habeneros so I used green chilies instead. I also didn’t have dill and the sauce was still fine. As for fish I used tilapia instead of cod. I’m not a fan of tilapia but I figured since I would be frying it I wouldn’t mind it as much.
Let me just say I’m in love! Why haven’t I been making fish tacos all these years? They are so easy to make and so yummy. I didn’t serve anything alongside them but had a Corona to drink. I ate about 3 and was totally stuffed. These fish tacos are such a great mix of textures and flavours.
These are definitely going into regular rotation.
Baja Fish Tacaos
White Sauce
Adapted from “Rich’s Spiced Yogurt and Mayo White Sauce,” available online here.
* fresh lime juice
* ½ cup yogurt
* ½ mayonnaise
* 1 teaspoon capers
* 1 habenero chili (use a milder one if you wish)
* ½ teaspoon – crushed oregano
* ½ teaspoon – ground cumin
* ½ teaspoon – dried, crushed dill
* ½ teaspoon – ground cayenne chile
* ground white pepper to taste
Mix yogurt and mayonnaise in a bowl. Gradually stir in fresh lime juice until a slightly runny consistency is acheived. Finely dice the habanero chile and capers and add to the yogurt/mayo mix. Blend in the spices, cayenne, fresh dill and then add white pepper to taste. If the sauce is too thick, add a little fresh lime juice until consistency is correct.
Battered Fish
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 cup beer (not dark)
* 1 pound cod fillet, cut into 3- by 1-inch strips
Heat 1 inch oil in a 10-inch heavy pot (2 to 3 inches deep) over moderate heat until a deep-fat thermometer registers 360°F.
Stir together flour and salt in a large bowl, then stir in beer (batter will be thick). Gently stir fish into batter to coat. Lift each piece of fish out of batter, wiping any excess off on side of bowl, and fry fish in batches, turning once or twice, until golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
Other
12 to 16 corn tortillas
Shredded purple cabbage (for garnish)
Thinly sliced red onion (for garnish)
Limes, quartered (for garnish)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Meanwhile, separate tortillas and make 2 stacks of 6 to 8. Wrap each stack in foil and heat in oven 12 to 15 minutes.
Once fish is cooked assemble tacos with warm tortillas, fish, and accompaniments.
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battered fish tacos? BATTERED?
this hurts my heart
LOL! Everything tastes better deep-fried! Don’t know (or care) what’s more authentic… deep-fried wins my hear 9 out of 10 times. xoxo
Lol, gotta agree with Devon here. May as well stick a fish stick in your taco and call it a day.
Oh Miri! Not you too!
I just found this article from food magazine Sunset (okay, no cooks illustrated, but still) that talks about fish tacos originating in California about 30 to 40 years ago and they were lightly battered: http://www.sunset.com/food-wine/flavors-of-the-west/in-search-real-fish-taco-00400000013842/
There’s also this story from NPR which talks about the origin/history of Baja tacos: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14333245
Just saying….
When you are in town next month I will make you my world famous (ok, well, famous with my friend) NON-BATTERED fish tacos and I will change your mind.
So where do you add capers???
Hi Mary –
I updated the ingredient list. You should use 1 teaspoon of capers and add them in along with the habeneros.
Baja Fish Tacos – http://bit.ly/9SLLW2 #MexicanFood
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So, so, so, so good. Made them tonight. Lots of stuffed mouth moaning going on. Accidentally bought sour cream instead of yogurt for the baja sauce but it was amazing! Fried food can be so fresh!
SO GOOD!!! i made these while away for the weekend, and made way too many so we ate them for 3 meals, not getting sick of them at all! the sauce is perfect, and works so well with the fish (i used tilapia). these are absolutely incredible. my friend said we should make it into a weekly event they were that great,
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