Baja-Style Tempura Fish Tacos

Chile-Lime Marinade

1½

cups water

½

cup fresh lime juice

10 cloves garlic, sliced

2 serrano chiles, stemmed and sliced

2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano, ground

1 tablespoon fine sea salt

2 pounds young shark fillet (or opah, tilapia or mahi-mahi) cut into 4-by-¾

-inch strips

Baja Tempura Batter

¾

cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water

2½

teaspoons yellow mustard, optional

1 cup bleached all-purpose flour

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

10 soft white corn tortillas (51/2-inch size)

Cabbage slaw, lime wedges and pickled jalapeno rings for garnish

For the marinade: In a large bowl, combine 1½

cups water, lime juice, garlic, chiles, oregano and salt. Add the fish strips and let marinate for at least 20 minutes.

For the batter: In a separate bowl, whisk together the ice water and mustard. Gently stir in the flour, but don't overmix; a few small lumps are OK. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Drain the fish pieces and pat them dry with a paper towel. Have a plate lined with paper towels ready.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat at least 2 to 3 inches of oil over medium heat until it reaches 360 degrees on a deep-fat thermometer. Remove the batter from the refrigerator and stir once more. Dredge the fish pieces in the batter, a few at a time, to evenly coat. Drop them in the hot oil, 2 pieces at a time, adding 2 more pieces every 30 seconds (fry no more than 4 pieces at a time). Monitor the temperature of the hot oil throughout frying, letting the oil return to proper temperature, if necessary, between batches; to ensure crispness, it must remain a constant 360 to 380 degrees. If too low, the fish will be oily; if too hot, the pieces will burn.

Fry them until crisp, light golden brown, and floating in the oil, about 21/2 minutes per batch. With a fine-mesh skimmer, transfer the fish tempura to the papertowel-lined plate to absorb the excess oil. Repeat with the remaining pieces of fish. During frying, be sure to remove any pieces of floating batter, or they will burn and darken the oil, which will transfer a burned flavor to the tempura.

To serve: Lay the tortillas side by side, open face and overlapping on a platter. Divide the slaw and filling equally between the tortillas and top with salsa and garnish. Grab, fold, and eat right away. Or build your own taco: lay a tortilla, open face, in one hand. Spoon on some slaw, then filling, top with salsa, fold, and eat right away.

Makes 10 tacos.

"Tacos: 75 Authentic and Inspired Recipes" by Mark Miller (2009 Ten Speed Press)