Baja Fish Tacos

How to make it

1. Put the tomatoes, chile de árbol and garlic in a small pot, cover with water and let it simmer for 10 minutes. The tomato skins should crack, and the chiles should be soft and have turned the water a rusty red. ⏱ 10 min · passive
2. Transfer the tomatoes, chiles and garlic to a blender with 1 dl of the cooking water and the salt, and blend to a smooth salsa that runs thinly off the spoon. Taste and add more salt — the chiles draw sweetness out of the tomatoes and can take a generous pinch of salt.
   Chef's tip Hot liquid expands violently in a closed blender. Fill it no more than halfway, take the cap out of the lid, hold a kitchen towel over the hole and start on the lowest speed.
3. Stir together the mayonnaise, crema mexicana, lime juice and salt in a bowl. Thin with the milk a little at a time, until the crema flows slowly off the spoon in a thick, unbroken ribbon.
4. Slice the pointed cabbage into hair-thin strips and toss with lime juice and salt. Let it sit while you continue working — it should turn glossy and just barely soften, but still have a crunch.
   Chef's tip The salt draws water out of the cabbage: glossy after fifteen minutes, wet and limp after an hour. If liquid has pooled in the bottom of the bowl, pour it off before serving.
5. Cut the fish into strips about 2 by 8 centimeters and pat them dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt. The surface should be matte and dry, or the batter will slide off during frying.
6. Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Whisk in the ice-cold lager until the batter is smooth and coats the back of a spoon in a thin, unbroken layer.
   Chef's tip The cornstarch dilutes the wheat flour's gluten and browns crisper, which is why the crust stays brittle rather than bready. Mix the batter last, right before frying, so the bubbles are still alive.
7. Heat the oil to 180°C in a deep pot with a thermometer in it, and keep an eye on it as you go. A drop of batter should sizzle up vigorously and float to the surface within a few seconds.
   Chef's tip Below about 165°C the batter absorbs oil and turns greasy; above 190°C it browns before the fish is cooked. Cold fish drops the temperature fast, so let it recover between batches.
8. Toss the patted-dry fish strips in the 3 tbsp flour one batch at a time, just before that batch goes into the oil, and shake off the excess thoroughly, so the layer is dry and powdery, not sticky. Flour the next batch while the one before it is frying — flour that sits on the wet fish goes damp and pasty and stops gripping. This thin base layer is what the batter grips onto.
9. Draw the strips through the beer batter, let the worst of it drip off, and lower them into the oil three to four pieces at a time. Fry until the crust is deep golden and the bubbling around the pieces clearly slows down. Keep the temperature up between batches. ⏱ 10 min–15 min
   Chef's tip The loud bubbling is water escaping the fish; when it visibly slows, the surface has dried out and the crust is set. That fading sound is a more reliable cue than colour alone.
10. Lift the finished pieces onto a wire rack rather than paper towels, so the underside of the crust doesn't steam and go soft.
11. Warm the corn tortillas one batch at a time on a dry, scorching-hot skillet, until they are soft and pliable and smell of toasted corn. Stack them in a clean kitchen towel to keep them warm.
12. Set the cabbage, crema, salsa and lime wedges on the table in separate bowls, and lay out the fish on a platter with the warm tortillas. Everyone builds their own taco: a tortilla, a piece of fish, a tuft of cabbage, a ribbon of crema, a few drops of salsa and a squeeze of lime. Eat it right away, while the crust is still crackling.