Go Back

Ensenada Fish Tacos

Yazzy
Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • For the fish fillets:
  • 6 fish fillets cut in 1.5 - 2 inch strips, going against the grain use your favorite fish
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 pinch dried oregano
  • 2 tbsp mustard
  • 1 12 oz. can dark beer your favorite brand
  • 1 egg
  • Salt and pepper to taste or
  • 1 tbsp granulated shrimp or chicken broth or bouillon (such as Knorr)
  • 2 cups peanut oil preferably; best for deep frying
  • For garnish:
  • 1/2 small green cabbage, washed, finely sliced/shredded
  • 3 small tomatoes, seeded, julienned
  • 1 small bunch radishes, washed, trimmed, finely sliced
  • 1 pinch dried oregano
  • 1 pinch dried marjoram (optional)
  • 1/2 cup cider vinegar
  • 1 lemon, the juice , or:
  • 1/2 cup pickled jalapeno juice instead of the lemon juice and the vinegar
  • 1 pinch salt and pepper, to taste
  • For the Creamy Cilantro-Jalapeno Sauce:
  • 2 jalapenos, seeded, deveined and coarsely chopped
  • 2 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
  • 2 tbsp white onion, coarsely chopped
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 cup light mayo
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped/snipped
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 30 soft, corn tortillas

Instructions
 

  • Make the Creamy Cilantro-Jalapeno Sauce by putting in a blender jalapenos, garlic cloves, onion, lemon juice, water, mayo, cilantro and salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Refrigerate any leftovers for up to 4 days.
  • Make the cabbage garnish by mixing in a bowl cabbage, tomatoes, radishes, vinegar and lemon juice (or pickled jalapeno juice) and salt and pepper. Have all your ingredients chopped/sliced/shredded in advance so by the time you are ready to serve the tacos you just dump garnish ingredients into a bowl and mix.
  • Salt and pepper the fillets. If necessary, cut them in half crosswise to fit the size of a 6" tortilla. In a big bowl, using a mixer, whisk on low the flour, baking powder, oregano, mustard, dark beer, egg and salt and pepper or granulated broth. Whisk until there are no lumps left. The batter should not be too runny or too dense; it should be similar to the consistence of pancake batter. Set aside and let it rest while oil is heating.
  • Pour oil in a deep frying pan or skillet and heat over medium-high heat. You can also use your deep fryer. In that case, pour enough oil and heat until oil shimmers. It is important to achieve an even brown batter and keep an eye on the fillets so that they don't burn, just brown.
  • Dip each piece of fish into the batter and cover thoroughly. Once the oil is very hot fry each strip until evenly browned. Set a paper kitchen towel on a large plate to absorb grease. Keep warm.
  • To assemble the tacos: Warm up the tortillas, place a strip of fried fish on the tortilla and top with garnish and sauce.

Notes

Since this recipe is not difficult at all but entails a certain degree of ingredient preparation, you can ready all the ingredients (except for the batter) the day before: cut the fillets is strips, wash the garnish veggies and cut/slice/shred them and make your Creamy Cilantro-Jalapeno Sauce in advance. Keep everything in the fridge until ready to use.
Frying the fish fillets should be the last thing to do, so that the fillets are warm when serving.
If you don't like cabbage or you don't want to go through the pickling process, accompany your tacos with a Pico de Gallo salsa and the Creamy Cilatro-Jalapeno sauce too.