Fish tacos are a really under rated dish here in the UK, if you’ve never had them what the hell have you been doing?!
I stumbled across this tasty batter quite by accident! I was making some beer battered fish but in typical style totally forgot to buy the beer. There was some 7up in the fridge so I used that as a substitute. It worked wonderfully! The batter was crispy and light with a sweetness and hint of lemon and lime. It didn’t work too well accompanied with mushy peas and chunky chips but i knew the flavours would be perfect in some Mexican fish tacos.
In this recipe I used Basa fillets, a fish from Asia but farmed here in the UK so it makes a great sustainable alternative to Cod. You of course can use Cod in this recipe, or any other white fleshed fish, but if you haven’t tried Basa before then do give it a go.
There are a really good balance of flavours in these fish tacos. A creamy avocado base, a sweet and spicy fish batter topped with an acidic red cabbage dressing and the freshness of cucumber and coriander.
Makes 8 fish tacos (will easily serve 4 people)
For the fried fish
- 4 basa fillets
- vegetable oil
- 200g self raising flour
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 375ml 7up
For the red cabbage
- 1 small red cabbage (finely sliced)
- 1 green chilli (finely sliced)
- 50ml white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp salt
- zest of 1 lime
- 5 tbsp mayonaise
- 5 tbsp sour cream
For the cucumber salsa
- 1 cucumber (diced)
- 1 red onion (diced)
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2tbsp finely chopped corriander
For the creamed avocado
- 2 ripe avocados
- juice 1/2 lemon
- salt and pepper
To serve
- 8 soft corn tacos
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper. Whisk in the beaten egg and then bit by bit whisk in the 7up until you have a nice smooth batter. Pop in the fridge until ready to use.
For the red cabbage, mix all the ingredients together well and pop in the fridge. Same for the cucumber salsa. Really nothing tricky about knocking these up!
Peel the avocados into a bowl and add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mash together. Add the mayo and sour cream and mix well. Put in the fridge until ready to serve.
Put a large saucepan on a high heat on the hob and pour in about 1cm of vegetable oil. You need to get the oil really hot, so could take 5-10 mins.
Take the batter out of the fridge and cut each Basa fillet in half length ways.
Once the oil is really hot, dip a fillet in to the batter to coat it and carefully lay into the frying pan. They only take about 3 minutes on each side to cook through and get a crispy batter. Be careful when turning the fish and only do two in the pan at a time. Put the fish on some kitchen towel to soak up any excess oil.
Warm the tacos through according to packet instructions (I was going to make my own, but sometimes life is too short!).
Put a spoonful of the avocado mix on to each taco, top with a piece of fish and the cabbage and cucumber mixes.
Get stuck in and make a mess!
I love this idea! Fish tacos are my favorite by far. I tried a Coke batter once and it was fantastic but 7-Up would be equally delicious I think!
Coke?! That is interesting…I may give it a go! 7up gives it a nice freshness that works really well with the fish
I never had fish tacos until a few years ago! My friends in Tucson thought I was nuts. Now I love them, especially with nice crunchy slaw like these!
They are THE BEST! You don’t get them much in the UK, we are really missing out!
great pics. have never seen a sweet soda for batter before!!
Thanks Patrick! The sweetness really works withe fish, it’s pretty subtle but gives it that extra something!
Love me some fish tacos- so glad you’re embracing them across the pond! 🙂 These look perfectly crispy and so tasty!
Thanks Karly! They are starting to become more popular over here, but slowly! I have no idea why they’ve taken so long to catch on!
These look absolutely wonderful!
Thank you! It’s one of those recipes I’ve been thinking about for ages! Super tasty!