04 Jul fish tacos

I recently spent a week eating my way around San Francisco. One of the finest things I ate was a fish taco from the little sister restaurant of renowned eatery Nopa, known as Nopalito, which specialises in serving authentic Mexican cuisine. I came home with the flavours of cilantro, lime and chipotle lingering in my mind. Though I don’t claim to have captured their authenticity, this week’s recipes are my attempt to recreate those flavours at home.

Fish Tacos

Serves 2

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients; this is a deceptively simple dish to rustle up.

Ingredients

100g plain flour

1 teaspoon of chilli powder

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

Pinch of salt and pepper

150ml of beer (we like 8 Degrees Brewing’s Irish Pale Ale)

2 fillets of fresh cod

Sunflower oil

For the guacamole

2 ripe avocados

Juice of half a lime

Half a green chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely grated

Pinch of salt and pepper

For the tomato salsa

10 cherry tomatoes

1 tablespoon of finely chopped red onion

1 tablespoon of lime juice

3 tablespoons of olive oil

Pinch of salt and pepper

To serve

4 x small flour tortillas

Sour cream

Fresh coriander

Method

1. Make the batter by mixing together the flour, chilli powder, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Gradually add the beer and whisk until you have a smooth batter.

2. Slice the fish fillets into 8 chunks. Cover in batter and shallow fry in about 2cm of sunflower oil in a large frying pan. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on kitchen paper towel.

3. Make the guacamole by removing the flesh of the avocado from its skin and stone. Mix it in a bowl with the lime juice, chopped green chilli, grated garlic clove, and the salt and pepper.

4. Make the tomato salsa by chopping the tomatoes and mixing in a bowl with the red onion, lime juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper.

5. Serve the fish pieces on the flour tortillas, topped with sour cream, guacamole, tomato salsa and some fresh coriander.

Storecupboard essentials

My Mexican Shop (http://www.mymexicanshop.ie/) is an online emporium of authentic Mexican pantry necessities, such as packets of corn tortillas, bottles of salsa verde and jars of smoked chilli paste. You can buy online or visit their real life shop, Picado Mexican Pantry, on South Richmond in Dublin 2.

This recipe first appeared in The Irish Independent on Thursday 4th of June