Ensenada fish tacos with chilli and coriander

Photo: James Murphy

Ingredients (serves six)

• 12 x 15cm corn tortillas

• 600g cod fillet

• 100g plain flour, seasoned with pinch of salt

• 6 turns black peppermill

• 1 litre corn or vegetable oil

For the batter

• 200g plain flour

• ¼ tsp salt

• ½ tsp baking powder

• 275ml ice-cold beer

For the toppings

• ¼ small white cabbage, finely shredded

• 1 avocado, stoned, peeled and diced

Pico de gallo salsa

• Hot chilli sauce, such as Cholula or Huichol

For the chipotle crema

• 2 Chipotles en adobo

• 3 tbsp mayonnaise

• 3 tbsp sour cream

• Juice of ½ lime

Method

Warm the tortillas in a dry frying pan, in a microwave or in the oven. Get your toppings – shredded cabbage, diced avocado, pico de gallo salsa, and hot chilli sauce – ready. Mix the ingredients for the crema and set aside.

To make the batter, sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a roomy bowl. Using a balloon whisk, incorporate the beer until you have a smooth batter. Set aside.

Cut the fish into fingers about 1cm thick. Heat the oil in a large pan to 190°C. Dip a few pieces of fish into the seasoned flour, shake off the excess, then dip them into the batter. Fry for 2–2½ minutes until crisp and golden.

Repeat until you’ve cooked all the fish, draining each batch briefly on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

Sprinkle lightly with salt.

Serve the fish immediately in warm tortillas, with the toppings on the table for guests to help themselves.