Rick Stein’s Ensenda Fish Tacos With Chilli & Coriander Recipe

Dive into summer with this recipe from Rick Stein’s latest book The Road to Mexico.

For many years the beaches on the north coast of Cornwall were patrolled by Australian lifeguards, originally because they had the surf life-saving skills that were unfamiliar to the locals.

For me, this meant many summers of friendship with pleasant Australians, all of whom seemed to be sunny and optimistic. Well, you would be, wouldn’t you, with a summer in Cornwall and lots of locals finding you irresistible?

One such lifeguard was Rudi, who used to return year after year. Everyone was extremely fond of him — so much so that we filmed a little sequence about a trip he’d made to Ensenada on the Baja California coast, where they made fabulous fish tacos.

We cooked some on the beach in Cornwall by the lifeguard hut, and Rudi took Chalky, my Jack Russell, out for a little surfing lesson.

Sadly, when back in Australia five years later, Rudi died of cancer and I always thought that one day I’d get to Ensenada and find the tacos.

RICK STEIN’S ENSENDA FISH TACOS

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

12 x 15cm corn tortillas

600g cod fillet

100g plain flour, seasoned with pinch of salt and

6 turns black peppermill

1 litre corn or vegetable oil

For the batter

200g plain flour

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

275ml ice-cold beer

Toppings

¼ small white cabbage, finely shredded

1 avocado, stoned, peeled and diced

Hot chilli sauce, such as Cholula or Huichol

Pico de Gallo Salsa

2 large ripe tomatoes, deseeded and finely diced

½ onion, finely chopped

A handful of coriander, chopped

1 green serrano or jalapeno chilli, finely chopped

¼ tsp salt

Juice of ½ – 1 lime (to taste)

For the Chipotle Crema

2 chipotles en adobo, finely chopped or mashed in a pestle and mortar

3 Tbsp mayonnaise

3 Tbsp soured cream

Juice of ½ lime

Pinch of salt

METHOD

1. Warm the tortillas in a dry frying pan, in a microwave or in the oven. Get your toppings — shredded cabbage, diced avocado, pico de gallo salsa, and hot chilli sauce — ready. Mix the ingredients for the salsa and the crema and set aside.

2. To make the batter, sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a roomy bowl. Using a balloon whisk, incorporate the beer until you have a smooth batter. Set aside.

3. Cut the fish into fingers about 1cm thick. Heat the oil in a large pan to 190C. Dip a few pieces of fish into the seasoned flour, shake off the excess, then dip them into the batter. Fry for 2–2½ minutes until crisp and golden.

4. Repeat until you’ve cooked all the fish, draining each batch briefly on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

5. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

6. Serve the fish immediately in warm tortillas, with the toppings on the table for guests to help themselves.

Extracted from The Road to Mexico by Rick Stein, with photography by James Murphy. Published by BBC Books, $60.