Fish Tacos Baja Style: A pretty dish

There are times in life when something happens that seems tragic at the time, but ultimately has no real consequence in one's life. Okay, so when the Bima Restaurant in the Pearl District of Portland, Oregon, closed its doors a few years ago I was temporarily distraught. Why would the owners of a fabulously successful upscale, Portland-ish restaurant in the hippest part of town just decide to stop? Because they could, and so they did. That left me without access to their signature dish, fish tacos, and I was grumpy.

After all, I love lobster and clams, but I'm allergic to all the other shellfish and I don't seem to like anything but endangered species. When Costco (a warehouse that sells food only in large quantiies) stopped stocking their frozen halibut fillets, I decided to try a fish called talapia. For this recipe you can use any firm fish including cod, halibut, talapia and shark. You could also use lobster or shrimp if you were so inclined, but I'll give directions using cod to make it simple.

FISH TACOS BAJA STYLE

Fish Preparation: Fish can be grilled or even sauteed, however, the traditional recipe calls for a beer batter. If you use frozen fish fillets already cooked, prepare them per the package directions. However, if you are using the fresh fish from scratch here are the ingredients and directions.

Ingredients for Batter:

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 large egg

1 cup beer

Ingredients for White Sauce:

3/4 cup plain sour cream (or yogurt)

1/2 cup canola oil mayonnaise

1 lime, juiced (about 3 to 4 tablespoons)

1/2 teaspoon oregano, crushed

1/4 teaspoon cumin, ground

1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or cayenne pepper)

Optional: If you like the flavor of capers, mince and add 1 teaspoon. If you like dill, add 1/2 teaspoon. I prefer to leave these two ingredients out, but if you love one or both, add them. You can also mince only the flesh (minus seeds and ribs and veins) of 1 jalapeno pepper if you like it hot!

Ingredients for fresh salsa:

1/3 medium red onion, sliced very thinly and then diced

3 small tomatoes, cored and chopped into 1/4 inch pieces

1 lime, juiced (about 3 to 4 tablespoons)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves (leave out if non-cilantro lovers are in the family)

Other ingredients:

1/2 head of red cabbage, finely shredded

1 pound cod (or other fish) fillets, cut into two inch chunks

12 corn tortillas

1 avocado, cut into chunks

Cilantro leaves

Olive oil for frying

1/2 cup flour (any kind)

Lime slices for garnish

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

1. To make beer batter: Combine all dry ingredients. Separately blend egg and beer and then stir into the dry ingredients, leaving a few lumps.

2. To make the white sauce: Mix all the ingredients together then refrigerate until ready to use.

3. To prepare the cabbage: Shred the red cabbage very finely, then add the cider vinegar and the salt. Mix well and let set, mixing again a few times before serving. The cabbage is slightly marinated when served.

3. To prepare the fish: Heat an inch of olive oil in a frying pan and add a sprinkle of salt to keep the oil from splattering (or follow directions for a deep fryer until it is about 375 degrees farenheit). Shake the fish pieces in a bag of flour until they are coated lightly. Dip each piece into the beer batter and drop into the oil. Fry only until each side is golden brown. Drain on paper towels while you fry the other fish pieces.

4. To heat the tortillas: The tortillas can be placed on a napkin and heated for 15 to 20 seconds on high, or two can be wrapped in saran wrap and heated together for about 24 seconds.

Each person builds their own taco as follows:

Tortilla, fish, cabbage, salsa, avocado, cilantro, white sauce and a squeeze of lime if desired. Salt should be added as desired.

My husband and I had a couple fish tacos each as they were so delicious, but the last one both of us had was totally vegetarian with the avocado as the base in lieu of the fish. I love the flavor of the toppers so much, I don't even need the fish.:)

If you don't like corn tortillas, substitute flour, but know they are higher in calories. You can't wait too long after heating up your tortillas, by the way. Do them two at a time and don't try to heat them all at once. Also, if you like a harder tortilla, fry them in a little oil. Fold them over and then drain on a paper towel before you fill them. Pita bread can also be used, but then you'll have to call it a middle-eastern pita tacket.:)

Senior Guinea Pig was quite happy with dinner tonight. He had never tasted these before and claimed he didn't like them.:) I kept telling him how much he would love them until he finally said, "Quit hyping them, Honey. You're overselling and they can't possibly be that good."

As it turned out, he stuffed himself with them, commenting what a 'good idea' I had had. I would have taken a picture... as they looked so pretty with the purple cabbage, the red salsa, the green avocado and the white sauce but... they didn't last long enough!

Salud!