Fish Tacos [Ensenada Style]
Try these legendary Fish Tacos recipe with beer-battered fillets, encurtido, and a delicious salsita... inspired by the original Ensenada Style!
Ingredients
- 4 tilapia or white fish fillets (I chose tilapia)
- 10 Corn tortillas
Fish batter
- 1 ½ cups of wheat flour
- 1 ½ tsps of baking powder
- 1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
- 1 egg
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp of garlic powder
- 1 cup of beer
Spicy and delicious salsita
- ½ avocado
- 3 tbsps of cream or white butter
- 4 tbsps of mayonnaise
- ½ can of chile chipotle in adobo sauce
- 1 piece of cilantro
- 5 scallions
- The juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsps of vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp of garlic powder
Toppings
- ½ cabbage or white cabbage, disinfected with 1 teaspoon of baking soda in 1 liter of water
- 1 tbsp of encurtido for each taco
- 1 tbsp of pico de gallo for each taco (We call it chismol in Honduras)
Instructions
Toppings & Salsa
- Beforehand it's important to have encurtido and chismol (pico de gallo) ready. Particularly encurtido, since it takes some time. For instance, my encurtido recipe is at its best after two days of marinating.
- To start, disinfect the cabbage. To do so, grate or slice the cabbage into thin slices. Then, soak it into 1 liter of water with a teaspoon of baking soda for 15 minutes. When the cabbage is ready, drain it thoroughly.
- In your food processor put the mayonnaise, avocado, cilantro, scallions, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic powder, chile chipotle, salt, and pepper. Blend until you have a creamy but slightly chunky consistency.
Fried Fish filling
- Let's start with the batter. First, sift flour and add baking powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix everything thoroughly.
- Add one egg, mustard, and beer. Then mix the ingredients until you have a soft and consistent batter.
- Heat oil in a stockpot.
- In the meantime, cut the fish fillets in smaller rectangles, like fish fingers.
- Soak the fillets in the batter. Dip them well, so they are completely covered.
- Use a bit of batter to test the oil temperature. When the oil is hot enough, start to fry the fish.
- Putting the fish inside hot oil requires extra care. I use tongs to avoid burning my hands. Avoid dropping or throwing the fish in the oil, since it will splash.
- Don't overfill the stockpot as you won't have enough space to move the fish inside the oil. A stainless steel drainer is useful to remove floating bits of batter. Remove them carefully. If they burn, they will add an unpleasant burnt taste to the fish.
- After 7 to 9 minutes the fish will be ready. Let the fish drying on paper towels for a few minutes.
Building your Fish Tacos
- While the fish is drying, you can warm your tortillas in a hot pan. Don't toast the tortillas, as they will break when you fold them.
- Everything is set now! To build the tacos put the fish first. Then add the toppings: cabbage, chismol (pico de gallo), and encurtido. Finish with the delicious salsita and a hint of lemon juice.
- Enjoy your Ensenada-Style Fish Tacos!
Video
Notes
For the perfect fish tacos, be sure to have enough encurtido and chismol (pico de gallo) beforehand.
My encurtido recipe takes between 1 and 2 days in the fridge.