These. were. amazing. I sorta compiled this recipe from different places over time. Let's make them. This serves 6-8. I halved it. We still had wayyy to much. So plan accordingly. You can make everything ahead of time, except for cooking the fish, so this is really great for company too.
Serve with corn tortillas (warm them in a 300 degree oven while you are cooking the fish), fresh jalepenos or salsa, and cheese. A note on cheese: if I could have found cotija cheese I would have used it on these... it would be a great addition... but alas, there is only one store in the greater Albany area that has this and it is far away. So. Here we go.
Baja Cream Sauce
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. (packed) finely grated lime peel
pinch salt.
Mix all that together. Refrigerate.
Chipotle Cabbage Slaw
OK so the ingredients were OK on this but the recipe I used last night was WAYY off. It was way too salty, too much lime, and lacked sweetness. So I fixed it by adding honey, and a ton more cabbage. Instead I am going to give you the recipe I have used before, which is way better. I only did not make it because I did not have chilis in adobo, and because I was curious about this other one.
2 tsp. finely chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (WEAR GLOVES!)
1/2 cup mayo
2 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. lime juice
1/4 pound shredded white cabbage (about 1 cup)
1/4 pound shredded red cabbage (about 1 cup)*
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
*I use all red cabbage and omit the onion because Brandon's not a huge fan.
1. Combine chipotle pepper, mayo, honey, lime juice. Stir well.
2. Add cabbage, onions and stir to combine. Season with salt to taste. Refrigerate.
Fish
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 Tbs. hot pepper sauce
3 tsp. coarse kosher salt, divided
1 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 pounds skinless sea bass, halibut, talapia, catfish, or striped bass fillets, cut into 1/2 inch strips (I prefer catfish, but used talapia last night and it was great)
Flour and/or cornmeal for coating
Oil for frying
1. Combine marinade ingredients. Add fish; toss. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours.
2. When you are ready to cook the fish, make sure the oven is preheated to 350 and the tortillas are in there, wrapped in foil. Mix together some flour and cornmeal (I use both, but you could make do with just one or the other). Heat an inch of oil (I used vegetable oil) over high heat. Working in batches, remove fish from marinade, dredge it in the flour, and fry it until a golden brown, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes. Put any cooked fish in the oven on a towel lined platter to keep warm.
(I let the man do the frying)...
When fish is done, you are ready to eat! Put out the tortillas, baja cream sauce, slaw, cheese, fish, and whatever else you desire and assemble at the table.
This taco has a halo! Weird.
Yummy...
Eat it!
Enjoy!
