Baja at Home
By Chuck Sudo in Food on Oct 4, 2007 3:30PM
So we’ve been watching the baja fish taco revolution with a wary eye. Thanks to the Tribune's Kevin Pang we even have the bracelet, which makes for a great conversation piece for people with their minds in the gutter. The other night we were hungry for some tacos and thought that some fish tacos would be a fitting meal. However, rather than go out to Carbón and buy them, we decided to make them at home with what we had in the fridge. We had a pound of imitation crab meat (which is just pollock) waiting for a fit of inspiration, corn tortillas and those two cans of Tecate we mentioned in yesterday's "BotW" review. All we had to do was make the batter. Rather than follow a tested recipe, we decided to make some from scratch.
Our batter consisted of:
- one-half cup of flour
- one-half cup corn meal
- fresh ground salt and pepper
- two large eggs, whisked
- eight ounces of beer
Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the eggs. Slowly add the beer until you have a thick batter. Add the fish, coating well in the batter. Remove the fish and roll in a bowl of unseasoned bread crumbs, coating well (pictured).
Place the fish in a large skillet over medium-high heat with a quarter cup of oil and cook for three-to-five minutes on each side, until the breading is browned. Remove the fish and pat any excess oil off the breading.
Place a couple chunks of fish on top of two cooked corn tortillas and garnish with cabbage and a salsa or sauce of your choice. We made a creamy tequila lime sauce using a quarter cup of Mexican cream, the juice from two limes, a pinch of cilantro and two ounces of reposado tequila.
It made for good eating.