Jalapeño Crispy Fish Tacos

One bite of these Jalapeño Crispy Fish Tacos and your taste buds will stand up and shriek. With just the right amount of crunch and nice kick at the end. Don't let the length of the ingredients list scare you. These tacos are relatively easy to make plus, to get good tacos, ya gotta put in some effort. But seriously, these tacos look awesome and are absolutely delicious!

Supplies

Jalapeño Taco Slaw

• 4 cups green cabbage shredded
• 1/2 cup diced red onions
• 2 medium tomatoes diced
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 2 jalepeños diced
• 1/2 lime squeezed

Spicy Crispy Fish

• Fresh fish (I used both cod and tilapia)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoon crushed red peppers
• 1 teaspoon chili lime seasoning (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon corn starch (mix with 1 teaspoon water)
• 1 cup milk

Step 1: Crispy Fish Batter!

Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Make the cornstarch slurry by combing the it with one teaspoon of water. Poor in the wet ingredients (slurry and milk) and mix well. Leave the batter in the fridge until ready to fry. The longer you leave the batter in the fridge, the longer the chili powder and flakes have to sit and soak. Therefore, the longer it sits, the spicier the fish will be...I left my batter in the fridge overnight but a couple hours will do fine.

Step 2: Jalapeño Taco Slaw

The key to good fish tacos is a good slaw. This slaw provides just the right taste and texture that helps balance the flavor of the fish. Chop your vegetables and throw 'em in a large bowl with some lime juice. I also seasoned my slaw with some chili powder to give it an extra kick.

Step 3: Coat the Fish

Set up another bowl with flour in addition to the bowl of batter. Cut the your fish into strips small enough to fit in your tortillas. Pat them dry, coat them in the flour, then let them sit in the batter. Make sure that the batter is sticking firm to the flour coat of the fish, you don't want the coating to fall off of the fish during the frying process.

Step 4: Frying

Heat one and a half inches of oil in a deep frying pan on medium-high. Fry on each side for about 1 minute or until the fish is a nice, dark, brownish color. Remove from oil and lay on a paper towel to help drain the oil.

Step 5: Serving!

Now comes the final step: serving the tacos! Place a layer of slaw in the bottom of your tortilla, I decided to use flour tortillas. Place the fish on the bed of slaw and top with a dollop of sour cream and guacamole. Sprinkle with some red pepper flakes if you want a little of an extra kick. Now you're ready to eat!

If you liked this 'ible, please consider giving it a vote in the Spicy Challenge! Much appreciated! Til next time,

SparkyGiraffe

Comments

[DJS30]

Apparently the warnings come after the spell.

I bookmarked this recipe in Sept into Evernote, and just made it tonight. Oops. Apparently there were several "edits" since I noted the recipe.

As several noted in the comments, the baking soda probably wasn't needed. I added it based on it sounded like the author knew what they were doing, and I didn't have experience making a fish batter. I can also say 1 cup of baking soda was too much. It made this recipe taste like carbonated fish soda.

I discovered the edits when I needed to add the wet parts to the dry parts, and the original recipe did not have any. I wish I read the comments before proceeding. Not checking the updated recipe is on me, but I'd be careful with this recipe since I don't know what other edits might still be missing.

[Brewtime]

Very tasty lo

[BobN56]

Good looking recipe....But what is the point of using baking soda in the batter? It will never activate without adding an acid. Only baking powder will activate in this recipe as it as a combo of soda bicarb with the required amount of powdered acid. So why add baking soda at all?

[tercero]

Agreed. It's a good recipe but I'd use an English beer batter or a Japanese panko crumb batter. All about personal taste I guess.

[winneremerald12]

YUMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYY

[yumzen]

Hey Dear,

Your recipe look so yummy. you had explained very well that how to make it. I will definetly try it at once.

[doczues]

How much water do we add to dry goods to make batter and are you adding the slurry to the batter?

[SparkyGiraffe]

1 cup of milk to the dry goods and yes, add the slurry to the batter.

[pearubu]

That seems like way too much baking soda for the amount of flour in the batter. Also, there's plenty of baking powder listed to make the batter fluffy and airy...I suspect it's just a typo, and that the author intends to say: "1 cup flour, 1 cup water, 2 tsp crushed red peppers...etc."

[SparkyGiraffe]

Sorry, you're right, it should be 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Italiankiwiblog]

I've just been given some dried chillis as a present from a friend in California. This looks like the exact recipe I need! Does it matter what type of chillis you use?

[SparkyGiraffe]

Wow! That’s awesome! Any kind will work, it’s all up to personal preference.

[seamster]

I think this is the best looking food I've ever seen on instructables. But I'm a sucker for spicy fish tacos, so maybe I'm biased! : D

[SparkyGiraffe]

Thanks so much!

[jessyratfink]

Ohhhhh man those photos are making my mouth water! Dang :D

[SparkyGiraffe]

Thanks!

[rozzieozzie]

Wow, I have to make these! The slaw looks delicious!!