INGREDIENTS Chile-Lime Marinade 1 1/2 cups water 1/2 cup fresh lime juice 10 cloves garlic, sliced 2 serrano chiles, stemmed and sliced 2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano, ground (page 161) 1 tablespoon fine sea salt 2 pounds young shark fillet, cut into 4 by 3/4-inch strips (see headnote) Baja Tempura Batter 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water 2 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard (optional) 1 cup bleached all-purpose flour Vegetable oil, for deep-frying 10 (5 1/2-inch) soft white corn tortillas (page 13), for serving Garnish: Baja Cabbage Slaw (page 145), lime wedges, and pickled jalapeño rings PREPARATION To make the marinade, in a large bowl, combine the 1 1/2 cups water, lime juice, garlic, chiles, oregano, and salt. Add the fish strips and let marinate for at least 20 minutes. To make the tempura batter, in a separate bowl, whisk together the ice water and mustard. Gently stir in the flour, but don’t overmix; a few small lumps are okay. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Drain the shark pieces and pat them dry with a paper towel. Have a plate lined with paper towels ready. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat at least 2 to 3 inches of oil over medium heat until it reaches 360°F on a deep-fat thermometer. Remove the batter from the refrigerator and stir once more. Dredge the fish pieces in the batter, a few at a time, to evenly coat. Drop them in the hot fat, 2 pieces at a time, adding 2 more pieces every 30 seconds (fry no more than 4 pieces at a time). Monitor the temperature of the hot oil throughout frying, letting the oil return to proper temperature, if necessary, between batches; to ensure crispness, it must remain a constant 360°F to 380°F. If too low, the fish will be oily; if too hot, the pieces will burn. Fry them until crisp, light golden brown, and floating in the oil, about 2 1/2 minutes per batch. With a fine-mesh skimmer, transfer the fish tempura to the paper-towel-lined plate to absorb the excess oil. Repeat with the remaining pieces of fish. During frying, be sure to remove any pieces of floating batter, or they will burn and darken the oil, which will transfer a burned flavor to the tempura. Serve immediately. To serve, lay the tortillas side by side, open face and overlapping on a platter. Divide the slaw and filling equally between the tortillas and top with salsa and garnish. Grab, fold, and eat right away. Or build your own taco: lay a tortilla, open face, in one hand. Spoon on some slaw, then filling, top with salsa, fold, and eat right away.
INGREDIENTS 1 packet 50 gyoza wrappers Filling: 1/8 cabbage 1 teaspoon salt 400 g lean pork or chicken 1/2 bunch garlic chives, finely chopped 4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water and finely chopped 1 tablespoon grated ginger 2 teaspoons soy sauce 2 teaspoons sesame oil, plus 2 teaspoons extra, for cooking Pinch of salt Dipping sauce: 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons rice vinegar La-yu (Japanese chilli oil), optional PREPARATION Dice cabbage finely and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Give it a bit of a massage. Leave for 10–15 minutes and then squeeze with your hands to remove any moisture. With your hands thoroughly mix together cabbage, ground meat, chives, mushrooms, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil and pinch of salt. Dry your hands completely (or wrappers will stick). Place a gyoza wrapper on one hand and put 1 teaspoon filling in centre of wrapper. Brush edge of half the wrapper with cold water. Make a semi-circle by folding the wrapper in half. Pinch open sides of wrapper together with your fingers and seal the top. Place a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add 2 teaspoons sesame oil and arrange 20–25 gyoza in pan. Add 200ml water to cover bottom of pan, cover with lid and cook on medium-high heat for 6–7 minutes or until translucent, cooked and no liquid is left in pan. Take off lid and cook for another 30–60 seconds for the bottoms to go crunchy. Cook remaining gyoza or freeze them. Mix together soy sauce, vinegar and chilli oil, if using. Serve gyoza hot with dipping sauce.
