Baja fish tacos with cucumber and pistachio salsa
This famous dish from Baja California is given a Santiago Lastra twist in this intriguing sharing dish. With Marmite in the batter, a salsa made from pistachios and cucumber, a smoky chipotle cream and crisp cabbage bolstered with juicy sauerkraut and fiery habanero, it's both familiar and new at the same time.
This recipe is featured in Great British Chefs' cookbook Around The Table, which you can buy here.
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Fish
- 2 tsp Marmite, (optional)
- 200ml of sparkling water
- 4 tbsp of plain flour
- 4 tbsp of masa harina
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 360g of pollack, or any white fish
- sunflower oil, for deep-frying
- rice flour, for dusting
Chipotle cream
- 4 tbsp of chipotle chilli, in adobo
- 8 tsp double cream
- 8 tsp mayonnaise
Salsa
- 50g of pistachio nuts, shelled
- 1 serrano chilli pepper, or green Thai chilli
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 onion, diced
- 1/2 cucumber, deseeded and diced
- 6 mint leaves, finely chopped
- 10 coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 2 lemons, juiced
To serve
- 200g of red cabbage, finely sliced
- 200g of white cabbage, finely sliced
- 4 tsp sauerkraut
- 1 fresh habanero chilli, sliced
- 12 flour tortillas
Method
Make the chipotle cream by mixing all the ingredients together. Cover and reserve in the fridge until needed
- 4 tbsp of chipotle chilli, in adobo
- 8 tsp double cream
- 8 tsp mayonnaise
Dissolve the Marmite (if using) into the sparkling water, then whisk in the flour, masa harina, baking powder and a pinch of salt. Cover and set aside
- 2 tsp Marmite, (optional)
- 200ml of sparkling water
- 4 tbsp of plain flour
- 4 tbsp of masa harina
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the salsa, place the garlic clove and serrano chilli in a dry frying pan and toast for 5-10 minutes until blackened all over. Leave until cool enough to handle, then peel the garlic and remove the stem and seeds from the chilli
- 1 serrano chilli pepper, or green Thai chilli
- 1 garlic clove
Place the pistachios in a food processor and blitz to a powder, then add the toasted garlic and serrano chilli along with the onion, cucumber, minnt, coriander and lemon juice. Pulse a few times to create a bright green chunky sauce, adding a little oil to loosen if needed, then season to taste with salt. Set aside
- 50g of pistachio nuts, shelled
- 1 onion, diced
- 1/2 cucumber, deseeded and diced
- 6 mint leaves, finely chopped
- 10 coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 2 lemons, juiced
Heat a large, deep pan of sunflower oil to 170°C. Meanwhile, cut the fish into 12 equal pieces, then dust with the rice flour and give the batter a quick whisk as it may have separated. Once the oil is hot, dip the fish in the batter and deep-fry for 3 minutes, or until the batter is golden and crisp (work in batches if needed). Drain on kitchen paper and set aside
- 360g of pollack, or any white fish
- sunflower oil, for deep-frying
- rice flour, for dusting
To serve, mix together the cabbages, sauerkraut and habanero chilli with a pinch of salt in a serving dish and heat up the tortillas in a dry frying pan. Bring both to the table along with the fish, chipotle cream and salsa for everyone to help themselves to
- 200g of red cabbage, finely sliced
- 200g of white cabbage, finely sliced
- 4 tsp sauerkraut
- 1 fresh habanero chilli, sliced
- 12 flour tortillas
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