Beer Battered Fish Tacos

I think everyone can pretty much agree that fish tacos are fabulous. Surprisingly, there are a lot of restaurants out there that do. fish. tacos. wrong. I think we can all attest to that! We had some friends in town this weekend so we decided to try out some new spots in Virginia Beach, one of them being Gringo's (known for being the 'best fish taco place at the beach'). It certainly hit the spot and inspired me to try out beer battering some fish for myself. My favorite part about this recipe is that they don't taste fried. They are so light and airy, which compliments the light flaky white cod really well.

I must say, this was a winner. And it was too easy! I don't know why I haven't tried it before - I guess it is just one of those cooking 'things' you hear about, eat and talk about but never really try for yourself.

Side note: If you are from the area or are visiting in the near future I recommend trying A) Gringo's for the fish tacos B) Back Bay Brewing Company for their decor and C) Young Veterans Brewing Company for their beer. All will be frequent stops when we visit the other side of the bridge.

Now let's get to cooking...

Beer Battered Fish Tacos

1 cup of Flour

1 cup of Dark Beer (I used Fat Tire)

1 teaspoon of Salt

1 pound of Cod 

1-2 cups of vegetable oil (depending on how large your pan is - needs to be about a half inch high)

Pour your vegetable oil in a pan and heat to medium. Mix the flour, beer and salt in a bowl until it becomes a thick milky consistency to make the batter for the cod. Next, cut your cod into long thick strips.

To begin the cooking process, dip each piece of cod into the batter and place into the heated vegetable oil one-by-one until they are a light brown color and flip. Once they are done, remove and lay on a paper towel to dry.

Now it's time to assemble your tacos! For mine, I chose to place my cod pieces on a flour tortilla, top with salsa, cilantro, and sriracha slaw. DELISH.

From the Restaurant to Your Kitchen Table

One of my guy and I's favorite ways to treat ourselves is to try new restaurants, more importantly new craft beer lists but we will save that for another discussion!  When you find a perfect dish, it leaves you high and dry because then you are left wondering... "Well how do I make that at home?"

Have no fear! After some careful research and consolidation of a bunch of different recipes I found what I think is eerily close to... the one and only... Bonefish Bang-Bang Shrimp.  This is an all around favorite for anyone who has visited this chain seafood joint.  When you want a night in, but you want the flavor of a nationally renowned appetizer, just do the following:

Bang-Bang Shrimp

2 pounds fresh deveined and deshelled shrimp (medium-large size)

2 cups of Peanut Oil 

2 cups of Corn Starch

Sriracha Hot Sauce

Mae Ploy Chili Sauce (any sweet Asian chili sauce will do)

1 dash of Lemon Juice

Prepare the sauce to set aside first.  This is where things get a little tricky.  I do not have a perfect ratio of ingredients for the sauce down, so this is where your taste buds come into play.  I normally start with about 2 cups of mayonaisse.  Next I add equal parts chili sauce and sriracha then a little dash of lemon juice and stir.  Add more or sriracha and chili sauce ingredients to taste.

Heat the peanut oil in a sauce pan until it is bubbling just a little but NOT boiling, this will burn the shrimp.  After dredging the shrimp in cornstarch, drop 4-5 shrimp in the hot oil.  Cook for 2-3 minutes stirring them around the sauce pan to be sure they are completely coated in the oil.

Repeat in incraments of 4-5 shrimp until it is all cooked.  To coat the shrimp in the sauce, dump all of the hot shrimp into the bowl that is housing your sauce mixture and stir.  This is the best way to make sure all those pieces get enough of this delicious sauce!

My favorite way to eat bang-bang shrimp is in a taco topped with lots of romain lettuce, sesame seeds, and scallions.  DO NOT forget the scallions! :)



 

"Mary's bang-bang shrimp is fantastic! It's the perfect combination of tender and crispy.  It's creamy and spicy sauce is light and delectable like it's been marinated for days.  This shrimp is a must have!" -Megan Parris