Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 5 hours ago
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The Baja fish taco, specifically, involves battered, deep-fried white fish with a piquant creamy sauce and a light slaw of finely sliced cabbage, rolled in a flour tortilla. I’m sure anyone might make them with corn tortillas if that is all one has. I have seen a few variations on the creamy sauce in the taco, and so I think it’s fair to say that a chef might create their own, within some basic parameters: it needs to be creamy, and it needs to be piquant. Whether it is actually spicy is left to personal taste. For instance, mayonnaise with lime juice and zest and a pinch of cayenne pepper would satisfy the requirement, as would crema blended with chipotles in adobo. This recipe describes a sauce that I like, but be creative within the brief and the particular contents of your kitchen.
These need to be consumed fresh. Have the cabbage cut and mixed with any other elements you’re using, the sauce ready, etc., before frying the fish. Then when it comes out let it drain briefly on a wire rack while salting, and then put it right into some tacos.
The sauce can generally be made up to a day ahead. The slaw might be prepared right before, or further in advance depending on whether it might need to sit together. Typically the slaw is just finely sliced cabbage, often in two colors, but it could also be a more traditional slaw-type salad of shredded cabbage and chiffonade scallions, possibly hot peppers, etc. If it were spicy and sour, then pure crema might be used for the sauce and the overall flavor profile preserved.
Makes enough for 6-8 people, roughly 16 tacos.
Equipment:
• deep (or shallow) frying setup with wire rack for finished items
• shallow dish for dredging in flour
• pair of plates or container for warming and holding tortillas
• mixing bowls for sauce, slaw and batter
Ingredients:
1 lb white fish many options will work; or shrimp
1 cup AP flour optionally sub in 5T of starch
1 cup beer Mexican lager ideally, such as TJ Beer (Cerveza Tijuana)
1/4 tsp black pepper ground
Slaw:
.25-.125 head cabbage sliced very thin, perhaps with a mandolin
1-2 ea scallions sliced very thin at high bias if possible; or red onion; optional
1 oz dressing optional; equal parts olive oil and cider vinegar, or something spicier
Cream sauce:
1/4 cup crema similar to sour cream; opt. sub yogurt, creme fraiche
2 Tbsp honey or maple syrup
2 Tbsp lime juice optionally include zest
1-3 tsp Fermented hot pepper relish or minced fresh hot peppers, or healthy amount of hot sauce
Garnish:
1/4 bunch cilantro
1 ea lime cut in segments for squeezing over tacos
Procedure:
1. In a small bowl, combine the cream sauce ingredients and mix well. Cover the bowl or transfer to a lidded container (or squirt bottle) and refrigerate until needed later.
2. Prepare the slaw, which might be just cabbage or just dry cabbage and green onion.
3. It is optional to use a little dressing to make sure the slaw has more flavor, and it doesn’t have to be fancy. Mix a tablespoon each of cider vinegar and olive oil, for instance. Or use pepper vinegar, or a mix.
4. Set up the fryer to warm up.
5. Set up to batter the fish. First, the pieces of fish will be dredged in flour, and then dipped in batter and fried. A shallow dish like a pie tin works well for dredging, then the fish may be dipped into batter in the mixing bowl.
6. Place the flour and black pepper into the mixing bowl and mix them together well. Don’t wet it until the fryer and the fish are both ready.
7. Prepare the fish for frying. Make sure remove any stray scales, and rinse the fish if you like, then pat it dry. Cut half-inch thick filets into strips roughly an inch wide and two inches long.
8. Once the fryer is at the proper temperature, measure out a cup of beer to use for the batter, and prepare to fry the fish.
9. Use a pair of chopsticks to mix the beer into the flour. It does not need to be completely smooth; some lumps are okay. (This batter is essentially identical to tempura batter, except that beer is used instead of sparkling water.)
10. Once the batter is ready, quickly toss the fish pieces in flour, and then transfer them to the batter.
11. Pick the pieces of fish out of the batter with the chopsticks and drop them into the fryer basket.
12. Allow the fish to fry 2-3 minutes, until it is golden brown and delicious.
13. Let the fried fish drain briefly on a wire rack; dust it with salt and possibly other seasonings as desired.
14. Place 2 or 3 pieces of fish along with a tuft of slaw into a warm tortilla, and top with about a teaspoon (5-7ml) of the creamy sauce.
15. Eat it with some lime and cilantro while the fish is warm and crispy yet fluffy.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
Check our our Patreon!
patreon.com/loveyourfood
Need a kitchen thermometer? Check out ChefsTemp! Use code LoveYourFood for 15% off a meat thermometer!
shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=2084649&u=3322095&m=111859&urllink=&afftrack=
The Baja fish taco, specifically, involves battered, deep-fried white fish with a piquant creamy sauce and a light slaw of finely sliced cabbage, rolled in a flour tortilla. I’m sure anyone might make them with corn tortillas if that is all one has. I have seen a few variations on the creamy sauce in the taco, and so I think it’s fair to say that a chef might create their own, within some basic parameters: it needs to be creamy, and it needs to be piquant. Whether it is actually spicy is left to personal taste. For instance, mayonnaise with lime juice and zest and a pinch of cayenne pepper would satisfy the requirement, as would crema blended with chipotles in adobo. This recipe describes a sauce that I like, but be creative within the brief and the particular contents of your kitchen.
These need to be consumed fresh. Have the cabbage cut and mixed with any other elements you’re using, the sauce ready, etc., before frying the fish. Then when it comes out let it drain briefly on a wire rack while salting, and then put it right into some tacos.
The sauce can generally be made up to a day ahead. The slaw might be prepared right before, or further in advance depending on whether it might need to sit together. Typically the slaw is just finely sliced cabbage, often in two colors, but it could also be a more traditional slaw-type salad of shredded cabbage and chiffonade scallions, possibly hot peppers, etc. If it were spicy and sour, then pure crema might be used for the sauce and the overall flavor profile preserved.
Makes enough for 6-8 people, roughly 16 tacos.
Equipment:
• deep (or shallow) frying setup with wire rack for finished items
• shallow dish for dredging in flour
• pair of plates or container for warming and holding tortillas
• mixing bowls for sauce, slaw and batter
Ingredients:
1 lb white fish many options will work; or shrimp
1 cup AP flour optionally sub in 5T of starch
1 cup beer Mexican lager ideally, such as TJ Beer (Cerveza Tijuana)
1/4 tsp black pepper ground
Slaw:
.25-.125 head cabbage sliced very thin, perhaps with a mandolin
1-2 ea scallions sliced very thin at high bias if possible; or red onion; optional
1 oz dressing optional; equal parts olive oil and cider vinegar, or something spicier
Cream sauce:
1/4 cup crema similar to sour cream; opt. sub yogurt, creme fraiche
2 Tbsp honey or maple syrup
2 Tbsp lime juice optionally include zest
1-3 tsp Fermented hot pepper relish or minced fresh hot peppers, or healthy amount of hot sauce
Garnish:
1/4 bunch cilantro
1 ea lime cut in segments for squeezing over tacos
Procedure:
1. In a small bowl, combine the cream sauce ingredients and mix well. Cover the bowl or transfer to a lidded container (or squirt bottle) and refrigerate until needed later.
2. Prepare the slaw, which might be just cabbage or just dry cabbage and green onion.
3. It is optional to use a little dressing to make sure the slaw has more flavor, and it doesn’t have to be fancy. Mix a tablespoon each of cider vinegar and olive oil, for instance. Or use pepper vinegar, or a mix.
4. Set up the fryer to warm up.
5. Set up to batter the fish. First, the pieces of fish will be dredged in flour, and then dipped in batter and fried. A shallow dish like a pie tin works well for dredging, then the fish may be dipped into batter in the mixing bowl.
6. Place the flour and black pepper into the mixing bowl and mix them together well. Don’t wet it until the fryer and the fish are both ready.
7. Prepare the fish for frying. Make sure remove any stray scales, and rinse the fish if you like, then pat it dry. Cut half-inch thick filets into strips roughly an inch wide and two inches long.
8. Once the fryer is at the proper temperature, measure out a cup of beer to use for the batter, and prepare to fry the fish.
9. Use a pair of chopsticks to mix the beer into the flour. It does not need to be completely smooth; some lumps are okay. (This batter is essentially identical to tempura batter, except that beer is used instead of sparkling water.)
10. Once the batter is ready, quickly toss the fish pieces in flour, and then transfer them to the batter.
11. Pick the pieces of fish out of the batter with the chopsticks and drop them into the fryer basket.
12. Allow the fish to fry 2-3 minutes, until it is golden brown and delicious.
13. Let the fried fish drain briefly on a wire rack; dust it with salt and possibly other seasonings as desired.
14. Place 2 or 3 pieces of fish along with a tuft of slaw into a warm tortilla, and top with about a teaspoon (5-7ml) of the creamy sauce.
15. Eat it with some lime and cilantro while the fish is warm and crispy yet fluffy.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
