Taco Sunday

A book on how to spend your Sunday! How cool is that! Petra de Hamer, the co-founder of this site (see About for more info), is now an independent bookmaker and asked me to share my favorite Sunday recipes. Such a great assignment! Besides beautiful stories, road and city trips the book features my recipes for a Sunday Roast, Indonesian slow cooked Chicken Soup, a crumb free breakfast with Ricotta Pancakes for in bed, a festive sunny Clam Bake, Pasta della Nonna, these crispy fish tacos, and more.

I could not have done it without family and friends. My youngest daughter was the ‘leg model’ for the cover picture (see side menu), my handyman Job with his tattooed arms modelled for the Sunday Roast, my mom was willing to put on my grandma’s apron for the Pasta della Nonna. It was so much fun to make.

Today I’ll share my favorite taco recipe that I included in the book. I preferably use corn tortillas, which are hard to find in my country (our largest grocery store sells corn tortillas that do not taste like corn at all!). Instead I make my own corn tortillas from scratch using masa harina. This might seem a little ambitious, but it’s actually not that hard.

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Serves 4
Action Time: 30 minutes

1 large red onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
a pinch of sugar
2 1/2 cups/ 10 oz / 300 g green cabbage (in Dutch referred to as a white cabbage)
5 oz /125 g sour cream
juice of 1/2 lemon
1.5 lb / 600-700 g white fish fillets, such as cod or haddock
2/3 cup / 3.5 oz / 100 g all-purpose flour
1/3 cup / 1.7 oz/ 50 g rice flour
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp/200 ml chilled sparkling water
8-12 small corn tortillas (see recipe below)
mild canola or sunflower oil for frying

<em>For the topping:
1-2 ripe avocados, sliced
a couple of red radishes, thinly sliced
a handful of cilantro
1-2 limes, quartered
hot sauce (very important!) and sour cream

Extra:
kitchen thermometer, paper towel

1. In a small bowl, mix the onions with the vinegar, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Set aside to marinade for about 10 minutes (but preferably longer). In another bowl, mix the cabbage with the sour cream, lemon juice, some salt and pepper (I always massage the cabbage and other ingredients with my hands).

2. Cut the fish in 1 inch / 3 cm strips. In a bowl whisk flour, rice flour, 1 tsp salt, freshly ground pepper, and mineral water until it becomes a smooth batter. Pour a thick layer of oil (about 2/3 inch/ 1,5 cm) into a deep skillet and heat until the oil reaches a temperature of 340F/170C (measure with a kitchen thermometer). Dip the fish in the batter and fry each side for about 2 minutes or until golden brown. Fry the fish in 2-3 portions. Let drain on paper towel.

3. Serve on hot tortillas with the coleslaw, marinated onion, avocado, radishes, and cilantro. Serve with hot sauce and sour cream. Happy Sunday!

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Homemade corn tortillas

Choose a good brand of masa harina. I ‘import’ Bob’s Red Mill Masa Harina from the US, but you can also make it with the widely available Maseca. I bought a Mexican tortilla press, which is really handy, but you can also use a rolling pin.

Serves 4 (makes 8-12 small tortillas)
Action Time: 20 minutes + 30 minutes resting

2 cups / 250 g masa harina
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
about 1 1/2 cup / 350 ml warm water

Extra: tortilla press, 2 large pieces of sturdy plastic (from a zipper bag), cast-iron pan or griddle

1. Mix masa harina, salt, and warm water in a large bowl and knead until well combined. Add more masa harina if the dough feels sticky, add more water if it is too dry. Cover, and let rest for about 30 minutes.

2. Preheat a cast-iron pan or griddle. Divide the dough in about 2 inch / 5 cm balls. Press dough between 2 pieces of plastic until it’s about 1/8 inch / 3 mm thick. Open the tortilla press and peel off the plastic. (Or roll the tortillas between 2 pieces of plastic with a rolling pin.)

3. Place the tortilla in the hot pan or on the griddle and cook about 1 minute until the tortilla releases from the pan or griddle easily and is lightly browned. Flip over and heat for 30 seconds more. Transfer to a basket or shallow bowl lined with a kitchen towel. Fold the towel over to keep the tortillas warm while you prepare the other ones.

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