TACO 3!
I’m back and better than ever. And what better way to bring in this “rebirth” than with tacos. Yes, I’m making tacos—but not just any tacos. I’m making the cool tacos. The tacos you wish you got instead of that $40 UberEats delivery that you drunkenly ordered after your 7th Cutwater. What makes these tacos so cool is that you’re in the house, yes, but they’re also simple. You can eat these every week and make them while you’re watching Stranger Things recaps in the background. You can make them while you pretend to work for the second half of the day. You can make them when you’re sad, mad or madly in love.
Now I’m not exactly sure when I had my first taco—it might have been at infancy. Perhaps I had them in another life as well; however, everyone knows how a taco makes them feel. They’re delicious. They’re normally light. A heavy amount of garnish and protein of choice nestled inside a beautiful corn tortilla breezes into your mouth and only improves with every bite. Tacos are life changing. I dare anyone to challenge that statement. And, because I love you all, I will be spending the entire month of July making several kinds of tacos. Club is going up on a Tuesday (and by the slim chance it’s not a Tuesday you can just pretend).
homemade batter fried fish tacos
ingredients:
fish:
2lb. white fish fillets, sliced into even strips (I used catfish cause I’m from Arkansas!!!!)
2-3T salt
dry batter:
1 1/2c cornmeal
1/2 c flour
1T white pepper
1T garlic powder
1T onion powder
1T cayenne pepper
1T smoke paprika
1T ground mustard
salt & pepper to taste
1/2T MSG (optional)
wet batter:
2 whole eggs
3T hot sauce of choice (I used Louisiana)
1 1/4c whole organic milk
1/2c heavy cream
the fry:
4c/32oz. canola oil
juice of lemon
mango salsa:
3 mangoes, peeled + diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
2 lime juice
1 cilantro, roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled + minced
salt & pepper to taste
spicy crema:
2 guajillo chiles, de-stemmed
1/4c hot sauce (I used Crystal’s)
1T garlic powder
1/2c sour cream
1/2c mayo
hot water (to cover chiles)
garnish:
tortillas (duh), warmed
Helpful items:
large dutch oven
paper towels
baking sheets
high-speed blender
medium/large mixing bowl
casserole dish/pie dish
recipe (fried fish):
In a dutch oven or large pot, pour in canola oil and heat until it reaches 375F.
Dry fish with paper towels. Salt fish and set in fridge for 30 minutes.
In a medium size bowl or casserole dish or pie plate, add flour and cornmeal. Whisk together. Then add white pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne powder, smoked paprika, ground mustard, salt & pepper and MSG. Mix together well. Set aside.
In another medium size bowl or casserole dish or pie plate, add milk, heavy cream, eggs and hot sauce. Whisk together. Ensure eggs are fully beaten. Set aside.
Place catfish fillet slices into dry batter from step 3. Ensure fish is fully coated! Place catfish fillet slices into wet batter from step 4. Ensure fish is fully coated! Then place catfish fillet slices BACK into dry batter from step 3. Ensure fish is fully coated!
Once oil has heated, carefully add coated fish to heated dutch oven/pot and cook until desired crisp brown color is reached (I cook mine for about 8-10 minutes—I prefer homemade batter fried fish to be extra extra crispy).
Retrieve fried fish from oil and place on paper towel covered rimmed baking sheet.
I like to actually put my fish directly on top of my bread after taking out of oil so the fish-flavored oil can be absorbed into the bread. This also helps maintain the fish’s crispy texture. I also like to immediately squeeze fresh lemon juice onto homemade batter fried catfish. The homemade batter seems to absorb the lemon flavors better.
recipe (mango salsa):
In a medium bowl, place mango dices, bell peppers, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro and garlic inside. Cover with lime juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
recipe (spicy crema):
In small bowl, cover chiles with hot water and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes.
If you have an even smaller bowl, I suggest sitting it on top to press the chiles down. It’ll extract more flavor.
Place chiles and about 1/4 of the water into a blender. Blend until desired consistency is met—add water to make it less thick. Set aside.
In another small bowl, add hot sauce, mayo, garlic powder, sour cream. Mix. Add blended chiles sauce. Mix. Add salt & pepper to taste. Enjoy!
assembly:
Warm tortillas in the microwave or in a pan. Place fried fish on tortilla. Top with mango salsa and spicy cream OR guac. Enjoy!
