At his San Diego restaurant, Not Not Tacos, restaurateur and YouTube cooking sensation Sam Zien, aka Sam the Cooking Guy, serves tacos filled with everything from mac and cheese to mashed potatoes and eggplant parm. This one, however, remains a classic: Beer-battered fish tacos topped with green cabbage, hot sauce and lime.
The recipe is one of 100 featured in Zien’s new cookbook, “Between the Buns: Burgers, Sandwiches, Tacos, Burritos, Hot Dogs and More” (Countryman, $30).
SAN DIEGO FISH TACOS
Makes 6 tacos
INGREDIENTS
¾ cup sour cream
¼ cup green salsa
1 cup dry tempura batter mix
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
¾ cup Mexican lager or soda water or the beer — yeah, it should be the beer
Oil for frying
1¼ pounds white fish (cod, halibut, mahi mahi), skinned, deboned, patted dry and sliced into finger-sized pieces, approximately 1 by 3 inches
Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour for dredging
6 tortillas
¾ cup thinly sliced green cabbage
Hot sauce and lime wedges for serving
DIRECTIONS
Combine the sour cream and salsa in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
Combine the tempura batter and Old Bay with the beer in a large bowl and whisk together until smooth.
Heat a couple of inches of oil to 360 degrees in a deep-sided pot or pan.
Season both sides of the fish with salt and pepper and coat with flour, shaking off any excess.
Dip the fish into the batter, gently shake off any excess, then fry in batches in the oil until golden brown and cooked through — about 5 minutes, or until beautifully golden brown (don’t overcrowd the pot of oil or the temp will drop and it won’t cook properly).
Transfer to paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining fish.
Warm the tortillas and build your tacos: To each tortilla, add some of the sour cream sauce, cabbage, a piece or two of the fish, and then a drizzle of hot sauce and squeeze of lime.
— Sam Zien, “Between the Buns: Burgers, Sandwiches, Tacos, Burritos, Hot Dogs and More” (Countryman, $30)
