Crispy Beer Battered Fish Tacos Recipe
The GOAT: Beer Battered Fish Tacos
It’s time for another taco night! This won’t be a white people taco night, but there will be white things involved (that sounds gross), particularly our main protein, cod! Yep, we’re doing beer-battered fish tacos tonight. But why batter and fry the tacos? Because regular fish tacos are for chumps.
To Fry or Not to Fry
You don’t have to deep fry your fish, as I’ll explain, but the key to any good taco is texture and the best way to get exceptional texture from any fish is to fry it. That golden brown glisten and insane crunch of perfectly fried fish is second to none. We use a large high-sided saute pan but you can also use a Dutch oven to fry.
We prefer a neutral oil to fry in like vegetable oil but you can use anything that you have on hand. The key to the perfect fish fry is to make sure you are using hot oil. You can test your oil by dropping a little extra batter into the oil. If it aggressively bubbles around the batter you are ready to add your fish!
We also use these trays after we have finished frying our fish to allow the access oil to drip off. You don’t have to use these but we suggest a plate lined with paper towels for your fish to rest on after frying. A paper towel-lined plate will soak up some of the excess oil.
Tuesday Special: Beer Battered Tacos!
Tacos are one of the most versatile dishes out there and the flavor combinations are basically limitless. Using fish as your main protein is no exception, though there are some things to consider. Ask anyone in San Diego and they will agree!
First, cod is arguably the best fish to use for tacos. It’s a little more expensive than a tilapia or another white fish, but the stronger texture and richer flavor that you get from it are well worth it. Use mahi mahi or “dolphin” if you want to go nuts. Make sure to get a center-cut piece of fish to make even cooking easier. Whatever you do, don’t use salmon; at least not for anything remotely resembling this recipe.
Lets Taco-Bout It
Tacos are one of the most versatile dishes out there and the flavor combinations are limitless. Using fish as your main protein is no exception, though there are some things to consider. First, cod is arguably the best fish to use for tacos. It’s a little more expensive than a tilapia or another white fish, but the stronger texture and richer flavor that you get from it will be well worth it. If you want to go nuts, use mahi. Whatever you do, don’t use salmon; at least not for anything remotely resembling this recipe.
Another age-old debate is corn tortillas vs flour tortillas. Melissa is a bigger fan of the flour tortilla but I love corn tortillas for this dish. You can feel free to use whichever one you want.
Does the beer matter?
We usually use Miller Lite or Dos Equis here. You want to make sure the taste of the beer isn’t too strong. You can use any Mexican beer or lite beer that you have on hand.
Ok lastly – the toppings! Make yourself a nice sauce for the fish taco. This recipe includes a chipotle crema. With a base of sour cream, lime juice, and chipotle in adobo sauce it’s the perfect pairing. We used this Nutri Bullet to blend everything and make sure it is smooth, but you can also use a food processor.
In this recipe, we also use a cabbage slaw. We are not huge fans of overly mayonnaised cabbage. We also used red cabbage for a little extra color, but green cabbage can be substituted here.
Another great topping for these if you are not into cabbage would be to pickle some red onion. The pickling of the red onions will add a bit of acidity to the dish allowing the other flavors to sing. Add some lime wedges when you serve and you will love these crispy fish tacos.
Crispy Beer Battered Fish Tacos Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh cod sliced into 1 in strips
- 4 small corn tortillas
- 2 cans lite beer We used Miller Lite
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 head of cabbage sliced thin
- 2 tablespoons maynnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce less or more dependant on how spicy you like it
- 2 limes zested and juiced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
- grapeseed oil enough to shallow fry
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup cilantro roughly chopped
Instructions
- Start by removing your cod from the fridge to allow it to come to room temprature. You do not want it totally warm but it shoudl also not be right out fo the fridge.1 lb fresh cod
Make your Simple Slaw
- Place your thinly sliced red cabbage into a medium bowl.1/2 head of cabbage
- To the bowl add your mayo, rice wine vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.2 tablespoons maynnaise, 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste
- Stir until completely combined, taste and add more ingredients based on your taste. Set aside.
For the Fish:
- In a large bowl add your flour and two cans of codl beer. Using a large whisk, mix your ingredients until they are the consistancy of pancake batter. You can add more beer if you need to thin your batter out.2 cans lite beer, 1 cup all purpose flour
- Dunk your cod strips into the batter allowing the excess to drip off. Repeat for all of your cod strips.
- Add a thin layer of oil about enough to go halfway up your cod strips to a cast iron pan or a dutch oven over medium heat. Allow the oil to get hot before cooking your cod.
- To test if the oil is hot enough drip a little excess batter into the oil. It shoudl rapdily bubble and float to the top. When it has reached temperature add in your cod strip in batches making sure not to overcrowd your pan.
- Cook the cod for about 4 minutes on each side making sure it is golden brown before removing it.
- Remove the cod from the hot pil and place on a wire rack or a paper towel lined plate to remove the excess oil.
Assemble Your Tacos!
- Warm your tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Remove and add a small spoonful of your crema to the bottom fo the tortilla.
- Place a piece of fish ontop of the crema and then top with your slaw and cilantro.
- Serve with lime wedge and ENJOY!
