The Art of making a Fish Taco

Ahoy Me Mateys Captain Cats here! The fish taco is a San Diego classic and local favorite dish, what the Philly Cheesestake is to the city of Philadelphia, the fish taco is to San Diego. Like the Philly Cheesestake, there is a right and wrong way to make a fish taco. Today I’m going to talk about what makes a fish taco a fish taco and even give you a recipe on how to make it yourself at home.

The type of fish to use

I’m going to make this clear, NEVER USE COD, SALMON OR MAHI MAHI FOR FISH TACOS! Cod you can do it but doesn’t give the same flavor from the other fish I’ll recommend in a bit, use cod if you want to make home made fish sticks or fish and chips. Salmon and Mahi Mahi you can’t deep fry, they will break apart and will taste bad and they are better grilled. The fish that you must use when making fish taco, especially with the recipe I will give you are the following:

• Red Snapper
• Halibut
• Tilapia
• Grouper*
• Flounder*
• * optional

What you need to make your Fish Taco at home

Now you know what kind of fish you need to make your fish tacos here what else your going to need. This recipe is to make Baja California Style (the birthplace of the fish taco) Fish tacos. Just to let you know this recipe will be using the metric system, so if you need help converting some of the numbers:

Fish Taco batter

• ½ kilogram of flour
• ½ teaspoon of salt (no sea salt)
• ½ teaspoon of ground pepper
• 3 egg whites beaten
• 1 cup of evaporated milk

Crema Roja ( Red Cream sauce)

• 100 grams of sour cream
• 100 grams of mayonnaise
• 1 Chile Chipotle
• ½ of a lime for juice

Crema Blanca (White Cream Sauce)

• 4-5 tablespoons of Sour Cream
• 1/3 cup of milk
• ½ of a lime for juice
• pinch of salt and pepper

Green cabbage, cut thin strips

Pico de Gallo salsa

• 1 Serrano Chile
• 1-2 Tomatoes
• ½ of a onion (white or yellow)
• 1 small bush of Cilantro ( if a store have a 3 for $1, just get 1)
• 1 whole lime
• pinch of salt
• pinch of oil

3-4 Limes cut into four

Corn tortillas (NEVER FLOUR TORTILLAS)

Put it all Together

First get a good frying pan or a deep fryer for the job and use a good oil to fry it in, I wouldn’t recommend using Canola and Olive oil, due to they will burn easy in high heat. Peanut, Vegetable, Corn and Sunflower oil are good for deep frying. Here is what you need to do step by step :

1. Have you frying pan or deep fryer hot and ready to cook. Be sure to have a griddle ready on the side as well for the corn tortillas.
2. Cut up the cabbages and limes and put them on the side
3. Put all the ingredients for the Crema Blanca in a bowl and mix it till its not to runny and to firm, once its ready cover it and put it in the refrigerator till ready to put on the taco.
4. In a Blender add everything for the Crema Roja and blend it till the chipotle is all gone. Pour it in a bowl and put in the refrigerator till ready to put on the taco as well.
5. Cut up everything for the Pico de Gallo and DO NOT leave the Serrano seeds in, use gloves to REMOVE the seeds, UNLESS you love spicy food.
6. Mix all the dry ingredients together and put on the side and beat the 3 egg whites and put on the side as well.
7. Put the pieces of fish into the small bowl and add the milk to them and it them sit in it for 5 minutes.
8. After the 5 minutes take the fish and cover it in the dry mix, after that move it to the egg whites then to the dry mix again then
9. Once the fish is all over, put them in your frying pan or deep fryer and make sure they are 100% covered in oil while frying.
10. In a frying pan if needed turn them over and have each side cook for 4-6 minutes or until golden brown. In the deep fryer cook till they are golden brown all over.
11. Once the fish are done cooking heat up your griddle on median high and let it heat up for about 1-2 minutes. Once all heated up add the corn tortillas and cook them a minute each side.
12. Once the corn tortillas are ready, add the fish, then the cabbages, both sauces and last the Pico de Gallo and a lime wage and enjoy!

There you go, the art of making a TRUE fish taco, Baja California Style. Let us know in the comment below if you made it and tell us what you think about it.