No cookbook of mine would be complete without fish tacos. I often ask my husband what he wants for dinner, a futile question, the answer is always fish tacos. The beer batter is a must. The alcohol cooks off but the crust in nice and crunchy and keeps the fish flaky and soft inside.
Reprinted with permission from The Ultimate New Mom’s Cookbook by Aurora Satler, Page Street Publishing Co. 2018. Photo credit: Aurora Satler.
Ingredients
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon coriander
- 1 cup beer
- 1 cup flour
- 1 Hass avocado
- ½ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
- 1 lime, juiced
- Sea salt to taste
- 2 (about 1 lb. total) flounder filets or other white fish, cut into 1” wide by 2” long strips
- ¼ cup Canola oil/vegetable oil, plus additional 1-2 tablespoons
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- Soft corn tortillas
- 1 tomato on the vine, diced
- 1 cup shredded cabbage
- ½ cup cleaned cilantro leaves
Instructions
Line a baking sheet with paper towels. In a medium bowl, mix your beer batter until it is smooth and resembles pancake mix. Next, season your fish and set aside on a plate. In a medium bowl, mix ingredients of avocado cream, mashing avocados with other ingredients until smooth.
Add ¼ cup oil to your frying pan and bring to medium-high heat till sizzling (1-2 minutes). Dip seasoned fish in batter and fry in batches until golden brown and flaky (about 3-4 minutes per side). Remove first batch to paper towel-lined tray and season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Repeat with second batch of fish adding oil as needed. If the fish is turning dark too quickly, lower your temperature to medium and cook till fish flakes when tested.
To assemble, top each tortilla with 2-3 pieces of fish, a sprinkle of cabbage, a sprig of cilantro, and diced tomato. Drizzle with your avocado cream and serve warm.
Remove all pans from burners and turn all your burners to medium-low heat. Lay a tortilla on each grate over the flames. Cook about 30 seconds per side. You are looking for the tortillas to start to bubble slightly and just start to smoke (be sure to have your oven fan on for this step). Then flip and toast the other side. You can use tongs or a fork if you are worried about getting burned.
