Best Baja Style Tempura Fish Tacos Recipes

BAJA FISH TACOS

Steps:

• If you're making the Curtido, start by slicing up the cabbage (approx. 1/3 head), 1/4 onion, and 1/4 jalapeno. Add them to a mixing bowl along with the remaining ingredients: 1/2 cup vinegar, 3/4 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano (optional), 1 teaspoon of salt, and some freshly cracked black pepper. Combine well and add everything to a Mason jar. Give it a shake and let it rest in the fridge until you need it.
• For the Chipotle Crema, add the following ingredients to a blender or food processor and combine well: 1 cup mayonnaise, 2 chipotles in adobo, 2 peeled garlic cloves, pinch of salt, and a squeeze of lime. You might need to add a splash of water to get it to combine. If you want more heat you can add more chipotles or some of the adobo sauce. Keep in mind that you can substitute some of the mayonnaise for plain Greek yogurt.
• Pat dry and season the fish on both sides with salt. Cut into strips that are approximately 1" x 3".
• To make the beer batter, add the following ingredients to a mixing bowl: 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and 1 teaspoon chile powder (optional). Combine well and then add 1 cup of beer. Whisk together until you have batter that is the consistency of thick paint, adding more beer if necessary (I added an additional 1/4 cup of beer to this batch.)
• Preheat 3-4 cups of oil in a saucepan until it reaches 350-360F (I used canola oil). One at a time, dip the fish sticks into the batter and drop them gently into the oil. Let them cook for 3-4 minutes or until the exterior is turning a darker brown. I used a narrow pan and only cooked 3-4 pieces at a time so that the oil temp remained as close to 360F as possible.
• Carefully remove the fish sticks from the oil and drain them in some paper towels, continuing until all the fish sticks are cooked. If making a big batch, place the fish sticks on a wire rack after draining , this will help prevent them from getting soggy. You can optionally keep them in a 250-300F oven until you need them.
• Warm up the corn tortillas. For smaller batches I prefer to slightly crisp up the tortillas in a dry skillet over medium heat. For larger batches you can warm them up in the oven for a few minutes (400F), or nuke them in the microwave for 60 seconds. Each tortilla gets fried fish, Chipotle Crema, pickled cabbage, and a final squeeze of lime. Enjoy!
• Load up each tortilla with fried fish, Chipotle Crema, pickled cabbage, and a final squeeze of lime. Enjoy!

BAJA-STYLE TEMPURA FISH

Steps:

• To make the marinade, in a large bowl, combine the 1 1/2 cups water, lime juice, garlic, chiles, oregano, and salt. Add the fish strips and let marinate for at least 20 minutes.
• To make the tempura batter, in a separate bowl, whisk together the ice water and mustard. Gently stir in the flour, but don't overmix; a few small lumps are okay. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Drain the shark pieces and pat them dry with a paper towel.
• Have a plate lined with paper towels ready. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat at least 2 to 3 inches of oil over medium heat until it reaches 360°F on a deep-fat thermometer. Remove the batter from the refrigerator and stir once more. Dredge the fish pieces in the batter, a few at a time, to evenly coat. Drop them in the hot fat, 2 pieces at a time, adding 2 more pieces every 30 seconds (fry no more than 4 pieces at a time). Monitor the temperature of the hot oil throughout frying, letting the oil return to proper temperature, if necessary, between batches; to ensure crispness, it must remain a constant 360°F to 380°F. If too low, the fish will be oily; if too hot, the pieces will burn.
• Fry them until crisp, light golden brown, and floating in the oil, about 2 1/2 minutes per batch. With a fine-mesh skimmer, transfer the fish tempura to the paper-towel-lined plate to absorb the excess oil. Repeat with the remaining pieces of fish. During frying, be sure to remove any pieces of floating batter, or they will burn and darken the oil, which will transfer a burned flavor to the tempura. Serve immediately.
• To serve, lay the tortillas side by side, open face and overlapping on a platter. Divide the slaw and filling equally between the tortillas and top with salsa and garnish. Grab, fold, and eat right away. Or build your own taco: lay a tortilla, open face, in one hand. Spoon on some slaw, then filling, top with salsa, fold, and eat right away.

BAJA FISH TACOS

Steps:

• Heat about 3 inches vegetable oil in a medium pot over medium-low heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F. Meanwhile, toss the cabbage, cilantro, lime juice, honey and mayonnaise in a bowl. Season the slaw with salt.
• Warm the tortillas in a skillet over medium-low heat or wrap in a damp cloth and microwave 25 seconds. Wrap in a towel to keep warm.
• Mix the flour, chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste in a shallow bowl. Dredge the fish in the flour mixture, then fry in batches until golden and just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Season with salt.
• Halve, pit and slice the avocado. Fill the tortillas with the fish, avocado, slaw and salsa. Serve with lime wedges.

BAJA FISH TACOS

Steps:

• For the sauce: Mix all ingredients together and set aside.
• Preheat a fryer or a deep pot halfway filled with oil to 375 degrees F.
• Mix 1 of the packages of batter, but only use 1/2 the required amount of water and use beer for the remaining amount instead. Add the beer until the batter becomes almost like a heavy cream consistency.
• Using the other package of batter add salt and garlic powder, coat cod pieces with the dry mix, then dip into prepared batter. Deep-fry for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
• Place fried cod pieces on warmed corn tortillas, add white sauce to fish, a little shredded cabbage and a squeeze of lime, to taste.