Beer Battered Fish Tacos with Cilantro Crema
Cod or halibut in a cold lager batter, fried until it shatters, then piled into warm corn tortillas with raw red cabbage, a pale green cilantro crema and crumbled queso fresco. The crema and the slaw are made ahead, so only the frying happens at dinner time.
Ingredients
For the Beer Batter
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 12 oz light lager or pale ale cold
For the Tacos
- 1 1/2 lbs white fish fillets cod, halibut, haddock or tilapia, cut into thick strips
- vegetable oil for frying, 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep
- fine grain sea salt for seasoning straight out of the oil
- 12 small corn tortillas doubled up, two per taco
- 2 cups red cabbage very thinly sliced, undressed
- queso fresco or cotija crumbled, for topping
- lime wedges for serving
For the Cilantro Crema
- 8 oz sour cream
- 1 cup cilantro leaves and stems, roughly chopped
- 1 serrano chile seeded and chopped
- 1/4 cup lime juice fresh
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Equipment
- Deep Frying Pan or Dutch Oven
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Tongs
- Paper towels
- Cooling Rack and Sheet Pan
- Blender or Food Processor
Instructions
Batter and Crema
- First, pour 1 to 1 1/2 inches of oil into a heavy pot and set it over medium heat to come up to 375 degrees F. Clip a thermometer to the side.
- Next, whisk the flour, baking powder, coriander, smoked paprika, cumin, kosher salt and black pepper together in a bowl. Whisk in the cold beer just until it comes together, then rest the batter in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Then blend the sour cream, cilantro, serrano, lime juice, olive oil and salt until smooth and pale green. Refrigerate the crema until you need it. It keeps for 4 days and improves after a few hours.
Fry the Fish
- After that, pat the fish strips dry and season them with salt and pepper on both sides. A wet surface is the main reason batter slides off in the oil.
- Dip a few strips into the batter, let the excess run off for a second, and lower them away from you into the oil. Do not crowd the pot, and let the oil climb back to 375 degrees F between batches.
- Fry until deep golden on both sides, 2 to 4 minutes depending on thickness. Lift onto a wire rack set over a sheet pan and season immediately with fine sea salt. Never drain fried fish on paper towels, which traps steam and softens the underside.
Build the Tacos
- Hold finished batches on the rack in a 200 degree F oven while you fry the rest, then warm the tortillas on a burner, in a dry skillet or wrapped in a damp cloth in the microwave.
- Finally, double up two tortillas per taco and fill with fish, a handful of raw red cabbage, a heavy drizzle of cilantro crema and crumbled queso fresco. Serve straight away with lime wedges.
Notes
Fish: any lean white fish works. Cod, haddock and pollock are interchangeable, halibut is firmer, tilapia is cheapest but needs wider strips. Skip oily fish. Frozen fillets are fine if thawed slowly in the fridge and patted very dry.
Beer: a cold, light, well-carbonated lager or pale ale. Avoid IPAs, which turn bitter in a fried crust. For no alcohol, use cold club soda plus a teaspoon of white vinegar.
Oil: hold it at 375 degrees F and fry in small batches. Below 325 degrees the batter absorbs oil instead of setting.
Make ahead: crema up to 4 days, cabbage sliced and undressed up to 2 days, fish cut and seasoned the same morning. Never batter in advance.
Storage: components separately for 3 days. Reheat the fish on a rack at 375 degrees F for 6 to 8 minutes, never in a microwave.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1taco | Calories: 380kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 720mg | Potassium: 500mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 310IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 130mg | Iron: 2.2mg