Beach Day Special: Masa-Battered Tacos de Pescado
Beach Day Special: Masa-Battered Tacos de Pescado
March 28, 2024
What says lazy beach days more than a fish taco?
A perfect Baja-style fish taco is deceptively simple, requiring not much more than very fresh, lightly battered and fried white fish, crunchy slaw, a creamy element such as chipotle mayonnaise or crema, perhaps a squeeze of lime, and of course, a great corn tortilla.
People have been consuming the fish taco in coastal regions of Mexico for a long time. Although many versions of the dish are served along the Gulf Coast, Baja California, Mexico (particularly Ensenada) is thought to be the fish taco's point of origin, thanks to the availability of fresh seafood and stone-ground corn tortillas. Many versions of the dish feature grilled fish. Rumor has it that the battered method came by way of Japanese fishermen immigrants, who coated the fish in a batter similiar to tempura, using ingredients they had on hand.
In the book Masa: Techniques, Recipes, and Reflections on a Timeless Staple, Chef Alex Stupak shared his masa tempura batter (key to Empellón's popular fish taco). We've riffed on that recipe for a light, shatteringly crisp batter with an extra boost of corn flavor.
