We’re going to make fish tacos my way! It’s a toasted onion taco filled with a sea bass ceviche, a lime & jalapeño gel, avocado cream, sweet & sour shallots and a delicious fish skin & cayenne pepper crisp.
The sea bass
Ingredients
- 1 wild sea bass +/- 1.2 kg
Instructions
- I have a beautiful wild sea bass that weighs around 1.2 kilograms. Now I always cut away the fins. It’s a small task, but they are very sharp and you can cut yourself quite fast.
- Remove the scales with the back of your knife or a scaler. I do this under some running water. After that dry the seabass so it won’t slip away when filleting it.
- Cut the belly open and remove the intestines. Use the tip of your knife and be careful you don’t pierce the intestines. Then make an incision just behind the fin and turn your knife. Now give some pressure on your knife and gently cut the fillet of the bones. So should hear the knife scraping on the fish bones. This means no filet is wasted.
- Turn the fish around and repeat the same process we just did. Keep the bones and head if you want to make a beautiful sauce or broth.
- Clean up the fillets and make a small incision at the tail side. Pull the skin tight and then use a long sharp knife to cut away the skin. Be sure you keep some pressure on the skin so you don’t waste anything. Keep the skins for later.
- Then cut away the bones. These you can also keep to make a sauce or broth. After that cut the fillet in thin strips and cut those in cubes. Now place them in a bowl and keep it covered in your fridge for later.
Crispy fish skin
Ingredients
- fish skin
- cayenne pepper powder
- salt
Instructions
- Take some fish skin and spread the skin on a silicon sheet. Be sure it’s super tight. I use some sea bass skin, but you can do this with almost all fish skins like salmon, cod or trout.
- Now dry them at 50 °C for a couple of hours.
- Once dry deep fry the skins at 200 °C for a couple of seconds. I use two tweezers to keep the skin more level, otherwise it will curl a couple of times.
- Then place them on some kitchen paper and directly season them with cayenne pepper powder and salt. Keep them dry and covered for later.
Lime & jalapeño gel
Ingredients
- 4 limes
- 3 g salt
- 40 g cane sugar
- 40 g ginger syrup
- 40 g water
- 2 jalapeños
- 4 g agar powder
Instructions
- First peel the limes with a thin peeler. When necessary cut away the white part. This is very bitter.
- Then blanch the peels for a minute or two in some boiling water. We do this to remove the bitters. Drain the water and submerge them once more. Repeat the same process two more times, so three times in total.
- After that cut the peeled limes in half and juice them for 120 grams of lime juice.
- Pour the juice into a blender and also add the blanched lime peels, the salt, the cane sugar, the ginger syrup and the water.
- Now remove the stems from the jalapenos, cut them in half and remove the seeds. Add them to the blender as well and blend it till smooth.
- Once smooth pour it into a saucepan and add the agar powder. Mix this well and then while stirring bring it to a boil for at least 30 seconds.
- Then pour it into a bowl and let it cool down in your fridge. Once set transfer it into a blender and blend it till it’s a smooth gel.
- Now I always vacuum my gels. By doing this you will remove the air bubbles and that will leave you with a lovely clear and intense gel.
- You can keep the gel for 3 days in your fridge and if you want to freeze it for a couple of weeks. If frozen be sure to let it defrost in your fridge. This way the gel will keep it's thick texture.
Sweet and sour shallots
Ingredients
- 100 g white wine vinegar
- 100 g white wine
- 100 g water
- 100 g cane sugar
- 3 g salt
- 30 g ginger
- 30 g galangal
- 1 lemongrass
- 3 lime leaves
- 8 small shallots
Instructions
- Mix the white wine vinegar with the white wine, the water, the cane sugar and the salt. Then cut the ginger in thin slices and do the same with the galangal and the lemongrass. Add all three to the pan with the lime leaves.
- Bring this to a boil. Once it’s boiling turn of the heat and let it cool down out of the fridge.
- Meanwhile clean the shallots. Now cut them in thin even rings and then transfer them into a preserving jar.
- Once the sweet and sour has cooled down bring it to a boil once more.
- When it’s boiling you can pass the sweet and sour through a fine sieve into the preserving jar.
- Now close the lid, label the jar and let the sweet and sour cool down at room temperature. Once cold you can keep it in your fridge for many weeks.
Onion taco
Ingredients
- 4 onions
- 55 g egg white
- 45 g neutral oil I use sunflower oil
- 15 g sugar
- 6 g salt
- 30 g flour
Instructions
- First cut the onions in half and clean them. Now slice them in thin slices. Then add a drizzle of oil to a cold pan and glaze the onion on the lowest heat till they have completely softened.
- Meanwhile take the onion peels and toast them with a blowtorch for a good smokey flavor. Let them dry at 50 °C for a couple of hours.
- Once dry transfer it into a blender and blend it into a fine powder. Set it aside for later.
- When the onions have softened weigh 135 grams into a blender and also add the egg white, the sunflower oil, the sugar and the salt. Blend this till smooth.
- Then add the flour and blend it once more.
- Now set half of the batter aside for later and add a tablespoon of the toasted onion powder to the remaining batter. Blend this for another 30 seconds.
- Then spread it on a taco mold. Click here for more info. Level it and then bake it at 160 °C for 8 minutes.
- After that let it cool down before adding a thin layer of the neutral batter. Level it and then bake it for around 12 minutes till golden brown.
- Now when still hot cut it with a round cutter.
- Then heat them up once more and use a taco stand holder to shape the tacos. Keep them dry and covered for later.
Avocado cream
Ingredients
- 2 avocados
- 0.5 lime
- 4 g salt
Instructions
- First cut the avocados in half and twist both halves to open them up, then remove the pit. Now peel them and transfer the cleaned avocado into a blender.
- Then cut the lime and add the juice. Also add the salt and then blend it till smooth.
- Once smooth transfer it into a piping bottle and keep it in your fridge for later. The lime juice will delay the avocado from turning brown, but the color will still chance over time. Because of this it's best to serve the cream as soon as possible.
Fish ceviche
Ingredients
- 4 limes 100 g of juice
- 1 lemon 40 g of juice
- 20 g mirin
- 30 g sesame oil
- 4 g salt
- 1 lemongrass
- 20 g ginger
- 1 shallot
- 1 lime leaf
- fish fillet cut in small cubes
Instructions
- Cut the limes in half and juice them for 100 grams of lime juice. Now cut the lemon in half and juice it for 40 grams of juice. Also add the mirin, the sesame oil and the salt.
- Then cut the lemongrass fine and add it to the bowl. Now do the same with the ginger. Then cut the shallot in half, clean it and slice it in thin slices. Add it to the bowl together with the lime leaf.
- Mix this very well before letting it marinade overnight in your fridge.
- Then next day you can pass the marinade through a fine sieve and use a spoon or ladle to press every drop out, so you don’t waste anything.
- Then cover your cut fish with the marinade and gently mix it. I use seabass filet. Let it cook for 20 minutes before draining the liquid. The sourness of the marinde will cook the fish, so no heat is needed.
- After that drain the liquid and season the fish with flaky salt. It's best to marinade the fish as late as possible and serve it straight away. But you could marinade it a couple hours beforehand and season it with flaky salt just before serving it.
How to finish the taco
Instructions
- Cover your seabass with the marinade and gently mix it. Let it cook for 20 minutes before draining the liquid.
- Then pipe some of the lime and jalapeño gel in the taco and fill it with the sea bass ceviche. Now season it with flaky salt.
- Then add a couple dots of the avocado cream, some more gel, the sweet and sour shallot rings and the crispy fish skin.
- Now decorate it with white leek flowers and small coriander leaves.
