This recipe came out of a comfort food craving. We had some crazy icey-rainy-snowy mix that sent both my husband and I home from work/school around lunch time. And when it comes to cold, ucky weather, I like me some comfort food....and sometimes that means fried food and sometimes that means Mexican food. So I decided to marry the two to make the ultimate comfort food of Fried Mexican food!
I really like fish tacos, if they're done right. I'm not saying I am any kind of fish taco expert but for making them off the top of my head, these turned out pretty good. We don't drink alcohol so beer-battering didn't seem like the most logical choice. I knew that at the fair, most of the time, the batter used for frying things is like pancake batter. We had a bag of Krusteaz pancake mix so I decided to improvise from there. Making these are really not too hard. It's a bit time intensive but its actually really rewarding because the end result is....Tasty, divine, satisfying,....need I say more?
Ok, I will.
As far as the rest of the toppings are concerned, curtido is really a magical note on these fried tid-bits of fish. What is curtido, you ask? Well, curtido is an El Salvadorian slaw made from cabbage, onion, and carrot that basically marinates in a vinegar brine and it's best if it sits over night so PLAN AHEAD on this one (it needs at least 3 hours if you're not into the over night idea). It really packs the fresh, yet acidic punch that a fried food needs to help it feel like you're not drowning in oil and fat. If you don't want to make curtido, I suggest dredging the fish with some lime/lemon juice and then topping them from there. My suggestions would be: some cheese (mozzerella or queso fresco), sour cream, cilantro, tomato, etc.
A few words on tortillas, you can use store-bought tortillas OR you can be really cool and make your own using Masa Herna (a corn flour). Masa Herna is found in most grocery stores, we used the Maseca brand. Just follow the recipe on the bag and make sure you only grill the tortillas for about 50 seconds per side, otherwise they get super brittle which is not what you want for a taco shell.
Just a small shout-out to my husband who had the job of shaping these tortillas and MAN can he make some good lookin tortillas without a press!
Ya, homemade everything really is the way to go and I feel like I'm not doing a good job of selling these bad boys but it would be hard to sell something so good with the small vocabulary I have. If you're in the mood for some Mexican fried food, this dish serves the craving well. Pretty dang well.
I really like fish tacos, if they're done right. I'm not saying I am any kind of fish taco expert but for making them off the top of my head, these turned out pretty good. We don't drink alcohol so beer-battering didn't seem like the most logical choice. I knew that at the fair, most of the time, the batter used for frying things is like pancake batter. We had a bag of Krusteaz pancake mix so I decided to improvise from there. Making these are really not too hard. It's a bit time intensive but its actually really rewarding because the end result is....Tasty, divine, satisfying,....need I say more?
Ok, I will.
As far as the rest of the toppings are concerned, curtido is really a magical note on these fried tid-bits of fish. What is curtido, you ask? Well, curtido is an El Salvadorian slaw made from cabbage, onion, and carrot that basically marinates in a vinegar brine and it's best if it sits over night so PLAN AHEAD on this one (it needs at least 3 hours if you're not into the over night idea). It really packs the fresh, yet acidic punch that a fried food needs to help it feel like you're not drowning in oil and fat. If you don't want to make curtido, I suggest dredging the fish with some lime/lemon juice and then topping them from there. My suggestions would be: some cheese (mozzerella or queso fresco), sour cream, cilantro, tomato, etc.
A few words on tortillas, you can use store-bought tortillas OR you can be really cool and make your own using Masa Herna (a corn flour). Masa Herna is found in most grocery stores, we used the Maseca brand. Just follow the recipe on the bag and make sure you only grill the tortillas for about 50 seconds per side, otherwise they get super brittle which is not what you want for a taco shell.
Just a small shout-out to my husband who had the job of shaping these tortillas and MAN can he make some good lookin tortillas without a press!
Ya, homemade everything really is the way to go and I feel like I'm not doing a good job of selling these bad boys but it would be hard to sell something so good with the small vocabulary I have. If you're in the mood for some Mexican fried food, this dish serves the craving well. Pretty dang well.
Battered-Fish Tacos
Serves: 4 Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
2 Swai Fish Fillets (or any other flaky, mild fish)
1 c Corn Starch
chili powder
cumin
salt
pepper
Canola Oil
Batter:
(you can use this recipe or just used a pre-made dry pancake mix with the extra addition of salt, pepper, and paprika)
1 cup flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
3/4 T sugar
1 t pepper
1 t paprika
3/4 c water
Instructions
1. In a large pan or dutch oven, pour oil into pan to the depth of 1/2 inch. Heat over medium heat.
2. Pat fillets dry with paper towel. Season both sides with chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cut fillets into 1 inch by 1 inch cubes and then dredge pieces in corn starch.
3. Mix dry batter ingredients together in a bowl, with a whisk. Add water and mix till runny consistency is achieved. If batter isn't runny enough, add more water by tablespoon till right consistency. The "right" consistency should be like glue.....(odd right?)
4. Once oil has reached 300oF (I used a candy thermometer to monitor temperature), dunk individual pieces of fish in batter and place in oil. Only dunk enough fish pieces to fit in pan without crowding.
5. Cook each side until golden brown (about 1 min) then flip with tongs and cook an additional 1 min till golden on other side.
6. Remove cooked fish to plate lined with paper towel and repeat steps 4-6 until all pieces of fish are cooked.
Curtido
1 small head of cabbage, shaved into small strips
3 carrots, grated
1 onion, thinly sliced into half-rings
3 t salt
1 t oregano
1/2 c vinegar
1 c warm water
Instructions
1. Combine cabbage, carrots, onions in a large bowl. Add salt and oregano, toss till combined.
2. Add water and vinegar to bowl. Mix until all combined. Cover with saran wrap and let sit in fridge for at least 3 hours, but preferably over night.
3. Any leftover curtido can be kept in fridge, in a sealed container for up to a week.
Tacos
6 corn tortillas
Fried Fish
Curtido
sour cream
cheese (mozzerella or queso fresco)
lime juice
cilantro
Instructions
1. Place 2-4 fried fish pieces in tortilla, top with cheese, curtido, sour cream, lime juice, and cilantro
2. Chow Down!
Serves: 4 Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
2 Swai Fish Fillets (or any other flaky, mild fish)
1 c Corn Starch
chili powder
cumin
salt
pepper
Canola Oil
Batter:
(you can use this recipe or just used a pre-made dry pancake mix with the extra addition of salt, pepper, and paprika)
1 cup flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
3/4 T sugar
1 t pepper
1 t paprika
3/4 c water
Instructions
1. In a large pan or dutch oven, pour oil into pan to the depth of 1/2 inch. Heat over medium heat.
2. Pat fillets dry with paper towel. Season both sides with chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cut fillets into 1 inch by 1 inch cubes and then dredge pieces in corn starch.
3. Mix dry batter ingredients together in a bowl, with a whisk. Add water and mix till runny consistency is achieved. If batter isn't runny enough, add more water by tablespoon till right consistency. The "right" consistency should be like glue.....(odd right?)
4. Once oil has reached 300oF (I used a candy thermometer to monitor temperature), dunk individual pieces of fish in batter and place in oil. Only dunk enough fish pieces to fit in pan without crowding.
5. Cook each side until golden brown (about 1 min) then flip with tongs and cook an additional 1 min till golden on other side.
6. Remove cooked fish to plate lined with paper towel and repeat steps 4-6 until all pieces of fish are cooked.
Curtido
1 small head of cabbage, shaved into small strips
3 carrots, grated
1 onion, thinly sliced into half-rings
3 t salt
1 t oregano
1/2 c vinegar
1 c warm water
Instructions
1. Combine cabbage, carrots, onions in a large bowl. Add salt and oregano, toss till combined.
2. Add water and vinegar to bowl. Mix until all combined. Cover with saran wrap and let sit in fridge for at least 3 hours, but preferably over night.
3. Any leftover curtido can be kept in fridge, in a sealed container for up to a week.
Tacos
6 corn tortillas
Fried Fish
Curtido
sour cream
cheese (mozzerella or queso fresco)
lime juice
cilantro
Instructions
1. Place 2-4 fried fish pieces in tortilla, top with cheese, curtido, sour cream, lime juice, and cilantro
2. Chow Down!