Transfer to a baking sheet or kitchen paper to drain. Fry until golden brown, about two minutes. Wrap in a clean tea towel to keep warm and moist.Ĭoat each piece of fish in the batter and submerge in the hot oil. Meanwhile, heat a non-stick frying pan and place the tortillas on the pan two at a time and warm until just lifting from the surface. Heat oil to 170C in a deep pan or fryer – a small piece of bread should turn crisp and golden in a few seconds. To garnish Finely sliced red cabbage Sliced radish Your favourite hot sauce Lime wedges Chipotle mayonnaise (add a clove crushed garlic, a teaspoon chipotle paste, pinch of salt and squeeze of lime to a cup mayonnaise and mix until smooth) Mix all the ingredients in a serving bowl and set aside. Leave to rest for an hour.įor the pico de gallo 5 ripe tomatoes, diced ½ red onion, diced Small handful of coriander leaves, chopped 1 small jalepeño pepper, seeds removed and diced Juice of half a lime Salt and black pepper, to taste Turn through with your fingers before adding the beer and whisking until the consistency of thick paint. Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl along with the baking powder, chilli powder and pepper. Fish taco recipeĦ00g dorado/mahi mahi fillets ( cod or halibut will do) cut into finger-size pieces 1 litre cooking oil 12 corn tortillasįor the batter 125g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp fine chilli powder 1 tsp salt ½ tsp ground black pepper 250ml Mexican beer My definition is the number of fish tacos consumed before a morning’s cycling in Baja California. The dictionary definition of a tachometer is a device that measures how fast a vehicle’s axle rotates. The red salsa provides just enough spice, trailed perfectly by a refreshing smack of lime juice. The batter is light, the fish meaty the cabbage has peppery crunch, the chipotle sauce is smoky and smooth. But carefully loaded and pinched between thumb and finger, a taco can be easily delivered to your mouth, bringing, with a first bite and gentle sucking, a moment of Baja bliss. Add too much spice and your morning is ruined. Overload, and the ingredients will landslide down your front. But subsequent do-it-yourself application of salsas and salads from the bar transform your taco: a little chipotle mayonnaise, some pico de gallo salsa, a pinch of shredded cabbage, some fresh coriander, sliced radish and, of course, a squeeze of lime.ĭressing a fish taco is an art.

Presented with pieces of fried fish in a corn pancake, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. Photograph: Tom Kevill Davies/The Guardian ‘Buen provecho!’ Tacos being made at a taqueria in Baja California. Three warm corn tortillas were taken from a griddle, the fried fish was placed in the middle and the lot was handed over on a lurid plastic plate. She would submerge a few hunks of lightly battered dorado into spitting oil, retrieving the golden morsels moments later and leave them to cool. Taking my place with the truck drivers, fishermen and rancheros, I would place my order with the smiling matriarch. Waking in the desert at first light, I would brew campfire coffee, pack my bike and then cycle to a taqueria in the next fishing village. Often little more than makeshift kitchens of gas bottles, griddles, corrugated metal and sun-bleached plastic furniture, these roadside vendors of Baja cuisine are a cyclist’s saviour. At daybreak their catch is available in tacos de pescado from numerous taquerias. Too much spice will ruin your morningĪt night the glimmer of lights from the pangas (fishing boats) reflects off the sea. Overload, and it will slide down your front. But as the Transpeninsular Highway turns east to hug the beaches of the Sea of Cortez, Mexico’s quintessential street food becomes decidedly fishy. In northern Baja, tacos are predominantly meaty, carne asada and tacos de tripa.

The villages that sporadically took shape on the hazy horizon became my oases, welcome opportunities to rest, replenish supplies and eat tacos. Cycling the black ribbon of asphalt that weaves through the unceasing cactus forests, scrubland and arid mountains is monotonous, shadeless and hot.

Cabos fish taco