Movie Foods - Fish Tacos - I Love You, Man (2009)

Thanks to this movie, I fell in love with the idea of making fish tacos.

Now, I did some research on the tacos that were made in the movie and they are actually from a restaurant:

James' Beach
60 N. Venice Blvd. Venice, CA, 90291
http://www.jamesbeach.com/

They are mahi mahi fish tacos, and they are complimented with pico de gallo sauce, guacamole, and beans. I have never been at this place because I used to live in Florida. And because I've never lived in SoCal or the California peninsula I never really had access to great fish tacos. So, for a proper movie foods night, getting the tacos from this place is the way to go, otherwise you can make your own.

I decided to take a different approach to the tacos from the restaurant version. I decided to deep-fry the fish because I saw that style from an Anthony Bourdain show where he has fish tacos in Ensenada, Mexico.
I switched the sides to a summer salad because in the movie. Paul Rudd's character mentions that the most romantic night he ever had was with a summer salad, wine, and the movie Chocolat.

Now, onto the recipe:

Summer Salad
Roasted beets:
 - 1 beet, peeled
 - 1 shallot
 - 2 sprigs of rosemary
 - olive oil
At 400F for about an hour

- Sorrel
- Orange
- Cactus fruit (tuna)
- Spearmint

I looked up what is the definition of a summer salad, and I couldn't one. I figured a summer salad is a salad that uses summer ingredients - and the combinations are not something that people think of when they think of a salad. This recipe fits into the rest of the dish, but you can try your own combination.
Be careful when handling the beets, the natural dye will stain everything around it.
Spearmint is very similar to mint; except that I find it to have a stronger "minty" flavor.
Sorrel is an herb with a citric tone to it, so I found it to be a great match in the salad.
I added the cactus fruit as a last thought. Though the flavors were nice, my problem was that the seeds on it were just too much.

Crema Sauce
- 8oz plain yogurt
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 clove garlic
- pinch of salt
- 1.5 tbsp of chile paste*

This is one cream sauce that you can try to make your own by switching the amount of yogurt, taking out the mayo, or by adding spices, etc. But what you can't skip is the chile paste which is Chipotle in Adobo Sauce - a staple in Mexican cuisine. You can find it in many grocery stores, but where I live, I just couldn't find it, so I had to make my own. I couldn't find chipotles either (smoke dried jalapenos), so I opted to go for a different blend of dried chiles.

*Chiles in Adobo Sauce
- dried chiles of different varieties
- water
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 1 tbsp honey
- 3 shallots
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 onion
- 1/2 pound cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar.

Soak the chiles in hot water for 20 minutes. (save the water)
Brown the onions, garlic, and shallots in a separate pan.
On a blender, blend the soaked chiles and the cherry tomatoes - add water if necessary.
Combine all the ingredients in a pot, bring to boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 2 hours.

Tortillas
- 1.5 cup of flour
- 1/3 cup of lard
- 1/2 cup of water
- pinch of salt

It is quite easy to make tortillas, but what you have to be careful with is the thickness of the tortillas. Too think and you will end with a doughy center; too thin and the tortillas will be too hard.
Make sure to keep them covered with a damp cloth so they don't get hard.

Fish
Batter
- 1.5 cup of flour
- 8oz beer
- pinch of salt

- fish
- corn starch to coat
- oil for deep frying

I chose to use marlin for this recipe since I was not marinating the fis - also because marlin is widely available around where I live. I find that big meaty fish have a flavor that stands on its own with just a little bit of seasoning with salt and pepper.
Do not overmix the batter, just whisk until it just comes together.
When frying the fish, add some of that batter while cooking in order to get more of that delicious batter and cruch.
Remember that the fish does not take long to cook: the pieces I used were about 100 grams, and they took no more than 2 minutes to be ready. The worst thing you can do to a fish is to overcook it, so be careful