I think if I could only have one meal for the rest of my days, it would be Baja Fish Tacos. I just did it for a week, I think I could do it for forever.
Our family likes to escape the eternal prairie winter each February with a trip to the sun. This year, we returned to San Jose del Cabo and a favourite resort. The boys like it for the pool and the kids’ club, I like it because of the tacos.
There is a little open-air restaurant on the beach at this resort that has a wonderful a la carte menu. You can get burgers or pizza or quesadillas if you wanted to, but I go for the fish tacos. Every. Single. Day.
I made a mistake one day of having my tacos al pastor. That was foolish. The next day it was back to fish tacos.
The Baja Fish Taco in San Jose del Cabo is simple: a warm tortilla, some crispy fried whitefish, some onions, and a chipotle mayo. That’s it. To quote Matt Damon, “it’s a taco, not a salad.”
Each day we were there, I’d linger over the food counter watching the chefs make the tacos. There was a huge language barrier, but once they understood I was watching to learn, they got over the creepy Canadian leering at their taco mastery. They had onions on the side, would plop some breaded fish into the fryer, and then dress it all up in a second once the fish was cooked. It was like being backstage at a David Blaine show, learning how the magic is made.
Having a Baja Fish Taco in Baja is about as authentic as one could get, and I loved it for the week we were away, but when we returned, I needed to recreate the magic. Remember, it’s just tortilla, fish, onion, and sauce.
The Old El Paso Baja Fish Taco kit has everything you need in it: some mayo seasoning, some fish breading, some soft tortillas.. Now the box suggests you kick it up with some cabbage and the like, but I’m trying to recreate paradise here, so I went the way they did it. And then I tried to kick it up by doing some Baja Calamari Tacos.
Oh baby.
It’s simple. Sautee some onions until they’re soft. Pat your whitefish and octopus dry. Cut the fish into bite size pieces. Coat in the crumbs, and then fry until crispy. Remove to drain on a plate, while you heat up the tacos and blend the spicy mayo. It’s easy with the mix in your kit.
Boom. That’s it.
Now I always ordered a side of tortillas and guacamole when we were in Cabo, so I whipped up some of that and Charlie always asks for “mud” when we have taco night, so I heated up a little Old El Paso Refried Black Beans for the side.
All I needed to do was face away from the window and the falling snow, and I was back in Cabo, baby. Perfection.
Now, I just need to find a way to recreate my son as pool boy / beer caddy and all will be perfect.
This post is sponsored by Old El Paso
Here’s what you need:
Ready-to-use Old El Paso™ Refried Black Beans are created by combining black beans with authentic Mexican spices to create a delicious paste.
Baja Fish Dinner Kit celebrates the unique cuisine based on the fresh and abundant seafood that surrounds the isolated Baja California peninsula. Fish tacos have become popular outside of Mexico due to the unique textures and flavours they offer – crispy fresh white fish and a creamy Baja sauce all conspire to make this a favourite taco.