Beer Battered Fish Tacos with Tomato and Kiwi Salsa and Yoghurt Lime Crema

My youngest son was home from school yesterday with a cold. He had just come off three weeks in Japan, followed by a cross-country race and straight after that, spent four days sleeping rough with a bunch of other kids at school camp. He has recently walked hundreds of kilometers around Tokyo, Hakone, Takayama, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Osaka. He's walked up a mountain in Miyajima. He's lead his parents around Tokyo Disneyland for days. He's sprinted for 3 kilometers across country in the rain. He has been rafting, abseiling, hiking, swinging from a giant ropes course and flying on a flying fox in the back of beyond with his school friends. No wonder his little body is saying "enough". But he still had the energy to powder-down a few fish tacos at the end of the day. That's my little soldier.

Thanks to Lakes Entrance Fisherman's Co-operative and Seafood Industry Victoria for supplying the delicious *Yellow Eye Mullet for these Tacos.

* Yellow Eye Mullet are a delicious, sustainable and underrated fish and the same species as the famed Coorong Mullet in South Australia. They are absolutely perfect in this dish. If you can't find it, ask your fish guy or gal to recommend something similar.

Beer Battered Fish Tacos with Tomato and Kiwi Salsa and Yoghurt Lime Crema
Serves 4 - 6

For the Cabbage Salad:
1 small head white cabbage, shredded
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup roughly chopped coriander leaves,
Salt and pepper
Juice of 1/2 lime

For the Tomato and Kiwi Salsa:
1 cup cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
1 kiwi fruit, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons coriander leaves, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon agave
Salt and pepper

For the Yoghurt Lime Crema:
1/2 cup thick Greek yoghurt
Juice and zest of 1 lime
Salt and pepper

For the Beer Batter and Fish:
1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ancho chilli powder (or your favourite chilli powder)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
300ml beer (any sort)
1/4 cup sunflower oil
12 small fillets of fish (I used *Yellow Eye Mullet)

To Serve:
Twelve warm flour tortillas, lime wedges, hot sauce and plenty of cold, cold beer.

Make the Cabbage Salad:
Put the cabbage, onion and coriander into a large serving bowl. Spritz with lime juice and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Toss gently and set aside.

Make the Salsa:
Put the lime juice, agave, salt and pepper into a serving bowl and whisk until thoroughly mixed. Add the tomatoes, kiwi fruit and onion and toss. Sprinkle with coriander leaves, toss again and set aside.

Make the Crema:
Put all the ingredients into a small serving bowl, stir and set aside.

Make the Batter:
Put the flour, cumin, onion powder, smoked paprika, chilli powder, salt and garlic powder into a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Pour in the beer and whisk to mix. The batter should be the consistency of pouring cream.

Fry the Fish:
Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Once the surface of the oil starts to shimmer, dip the fish fillets into the batter, coating them completely, and fry them for about 2 - 3 minutes on each side until they are golden and crispy. Cook the fish in batches until they are all cooked, leaving them to drain on a wire rack set over a baking tray as you remove them from the pan. Keep the fish warm in a low oven until all the fish is cooked.

To Serve:
Put a piece of crispy, golden fish into a warm flour tortilla. Add some cabbage salad, tomato and kiwi salsa and top with a dollop of yoghurt lime crema. Add an extra squeeze of lime and a drizzle of your favourite hot sauce and apply to face.