Beer-Battered Fish Tacos

Early May. The restaurant's one-year anniversary is coming up May 22. Lily and James have decided to do a small private celebration the night before, family and close staff only, with a special menu of every dish that has run on the menu since opening — a kind of culinary year-in-review. Twenty-six dishes total. James is going to plate them as small portions, family-style, on a long table. The kitchen is already prepping. The staff is excited because they don't usually get to eat the menu they cook every night.

Spring deep in Houston now. The smoker is on its civilized schedule again — 7 AM start, 7 PM pull. The compound has acquired a new piece of equipment in my absence: a small smokehouse-style cabinet that Tyler built and shipped me as a thank-you for visiting Midland in March. It arrived in three crates and took me a full Saturday to assemble. Smokey supervised. He pretended to help by carrying wood scraps in his mouth. By the end of Saturday I had a working cold-smoke cabinet — perfect for cheese, fish, and the occasional sausage cure I've been wanting to try. The first thing I cold-smoked was a slab of pork belly, three days, low and slow at 70 degrees. Sliced and seared. Bacon, basically — but Vietnamese-spiced bacon, with a five-spice and brown sugar cure. Tyler has elevated my game from a thousand miles away. The chain.

Emma came over Sunday with Daniel and Ava and dropped a piece of news at the dinner table — she's pregnant again. Due January. Second child confirmed female. Ava listened with the focus of a three-year-old being told life-altering news, and asked, "Is the baby in your tummy?" Emma said yes. Ava said, "Why?" Emma laughed for thirty seconds before she could answer. Daniel narrated: "Because that's where babies live before they come out, Ava." Ava said, "Okay. I want pho." She had reached her capacity for new information. We had pho.

The cold-smoked pork belly is a project — three days of patience, a cure built around five-spice and brown sugar, a cabinet Tyler shipped in three crates. That’s not a Tuesday meal. But after a Sunday where Emma dropped a second baby into the conversation and Ava absorbed exactly one sentence of it before requesting pho, I found myself wanting something for the regular weeknight table that required zero planning and maximum crunch. These beer-battered fish tacos are the other end of the spectrum from the smoker — fast, bright, and exactly the kind of meal that keeps a busy household running while the longer projects do their slow work in the background.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 4 (8 tacos)

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs white fish fillets (cod, tilapia, or halibut), cut into 1-inch strips
1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 cup cold lager or pale ale beer
Vegetable oil, for frying
8 small corn tortillas
2 cups green cabbage, thinly shredded
1 avocado, sliced
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp fresh lime juice (about 1 lime), plus wedges for serving
1 tsp hot sauce
Fresh cilantro, for garnish

Instructions

Make the crema. Whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, and hot sauce in a small bowl. Season with a pinch of salt. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Set up for battering. Add 1/4 cup of the flour to a shallow dish and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 3/4 cup flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cumin. Pour in the cold beer and whisk until a smooth, slightly thick batter forms. Do not overmix.
Heat the oil. Pour 2 to 3 inches of vegetable oil into a heavy-bottomed pot or deep skillet. Heat over medium-high until the oil reaches 375°F on a thermometer.
Batter and fry the fish. Pat fish strips dry with paper towels. Working in batches, dredge each strip in the plain flour and shake off the excess, then dip into the beer batter, letting any excess drip off. Carefully lower into the hot oil. Fry 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until the batter is deep golden and crispy and the fish is cooked through. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and season immediately with a pinch of salt.
Warm the tortillas. Heat tortillas one at a time in a dry skillet over medium heat for 30 seconds per side, or char briefly over a gas flame. Stack and wrap in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm.
Assemble the tacos. Place a handful of shredded cabbage on each tortilla. Add 1 or 2 pieces of fried fish, a few avocado slices, and a drizzle of the crema. Top with fresh cilantro and serve immediately with lime wedges on the side.

Nutrition (per serving, 2 tacos)

Beer-Battered Fish Tacos — When the Smoker Gets the Glory but the Table Needs Something Crispy