Back in San Diego, I started a Mariscos Food Truck. San Diego is know for its Baja Fish Tacos, and the countless Seafood food trucks on the streets.

I spent a lot of time and money perfecting the recipes, because anything short of Perfectly delicious in the San Diego Fish taco scene was not going to cut it.

I’m starting a Series where I will go through all the recipes, tips, tricks, and ideas that I learned during my time running a Mariscos Truck in San Diego.

It is Hard to find Mariscos Truck Recipes, or a Mariscos Truck Recipe book online. I made friends with countless Food Truckers and got some tips from everyone. Then I perfected the tacos, and I have been called the “Jesus of Fish tacos” and after trying some of these upcoming recipes you will know why.

In this series we will Cover, Fish tacos, Shrimp Tacos, Ceveches, Qusadillas, salsas, Coctels, Gobernador tacos, and aquas frescas.

Today Lets start with your Typical San Diego Fish taco, to skip to the recipes scroll to the bottom.

Origins of the Fish Taco.

The Origin of the Fish taco is Best explained in Mark Millers cookbook Tacos. Miller states that the Batter-Fried fish tacos as we know them today originated in the 1930’s in Ensenada, Mexico. There was Large population of Japanese immigrant fisherman who brought with them the skills and cooking style of tempura- deep frying fish in batter. The local Mexicans adapted this technique and made it into tacos. They used Cabbage instead of lettuce, because in the warm climate of Ensenada, lettuce would wilt, and Cabbage can keep very long without refrigeration.

His book is full of Taco recipes I have it as a reference and I recommend anyone who wants to know all there is about tacos, to get a copy of this book as a starting point.

The San Diego Fish Taco.

When I first started experimenting with fish tacos, I had made countless variations from different sources. At the Time I was working at a local Hip Taco joint in Northpark, and we were serving Tacos in a tempura style batter. I knew fish taco as the light and crispy battered fish. Actually full disclosure, I had not at that time tasted a fish taco from a Mariscos truck yet. I started to visit every Seafood Food truck in San Diego, and they all seemed to be doing it Differently. The batter was not a tempura batter, but almost looked like a Corn dog batter. I thought they must be doing it wrong, why would they want a spongy, thick, salty corn dog coating on their fish?

Months into Fish Tacos I realized why. The batter makes the tiniest piece of fish look three times as large, plus the batter is the vehicle to deliver all the salt, and flavoring. The fish is not marinated, its just cut to size, and dipped in the batter, and fried.

The chewiness of the batter makes for a nice chew or bite, again in plumps up the taco. The reason why this is done is because of food cost. In San Diego a Fish Taco from a Seafood Truck will cost between 99 Cents to $1.50, anything more than that and you will lose customers. Keeping food cost at 25% means that a taco should cost around 30 cents. This means than any fish taco from a truck will be from a cheap cut. I did some snooping at our Food truck Commissary kitchen, and EVERY truck used Basa filets, also known as Swai, Vietnamese Cat fish, or Pangasius fish here in Germany. This is a cheap fish, that is not slimy, crumbly, or bland like Pollock, please don’t use pollock.

Here is an example of the fish taco batters.

The trucks

Recipe

Batter

Yield about 2 quarts batter

1/3 Cup yellow Mustard such as French’s

4.5 Cup water

6 Cup A.P Flour

1 tablespoon black pepper ( less if fresh ground)

2.5 Tablespoon Diamon crystal salt

1 Tablespoon Ajinomoto MSG

2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

3 Tablespoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Mexican oregno rubbed.

Fish

3 pounds Basa Filet sliced lengthwise into desired size.

Thawed if frozen, Do not fry frozen fish while it is still frozen, it will burst the Batter coating, and cause extreme splattering.

Canola or Peanut oil for frying.

Toppings

Thinly Shredded Cabbage

Pico De Gallo

Salsa Blanca or White Sauce

Instructions.

Batter,

In a large bowl mix flour with baking powder.

Mix remaining ingredients with the water.

combine both mixes and whisk well until nice and thick, you want a gluey thick batter.

Add water or flour to achieve this consistency.

Batter Can be stored in fridge for several days. If the batter breaks and water forms on the top, just mix it well again.

Frying

Preheat Fryer or A Large pot with canola clear frying oil, to 350°F.

Don’t use shorting, or creamy oil, as this will prevent the batter from setting and crisping properly.

Dip pieces of fish into Batter with Tongs.

slowly dip Battered fish Into fryer swaying the piece back and forth while still holding the piece with the tong. after about 6 seconds you can slowly release the fish into the Oil and it will swim.

Do not just drop the battered fish into the Oil, it will sink to the bottom and stick. You want the batter to set before letting go, and some bubbles will form inside the batter so it will float.

In the Food truck, We used to fry a number of fish, until the batter just sets, then place them near the fryer, and finish them to order.

When fish is golden brown or reaches internal temp of 145°F, remove from oil and drain for on a paper towel or rack.

Assembly

Heat tortillas on a skillet or grill. Preferably corn tortillas from a Tortillaria or masa .

Place battered fish on tortilla, top with shredded cabbage, Salsa Blanca, and Pico De gallo in that order.

Serve hot and Eat Many.

Let me know in the comments how you like these tacos.