This is a healthier version of the delicious - but deep fried - fish tacos you can get in Mexican restaurants. Instead of deep frying the fish, you can pan fry it in a little olive oil, or better still - bake it the oven. The secret to making this dish just as delicious as its restaurant counterpart is the spicy coating we put on the fish before cooking! I use Besan (chickpea) flour, which is an ingredient you might not be familiar with, but which is well worth trying out in your kitchen! I consider it my secret weapon for getting a crispy golden crust on foods I want to shallow fry with only tiny amounts of oil, or oven bake.

I love to use whiting fillets for this dish, but you can use any white fish really. The reason I favour whiting is because I love its clean "non-fishy" flavour, and it's so fast to cook and it fits perfectly onto my fish taco lettuce "tortillas"!

This dish has so much going for it. It is a fabulous combination of spicy and refreshing, and you can pick it up and eat it with your hands!

Ingredients

Fish Tacos

4 whiting fillets (or other white fish of your choice)
4 lettuce leaves
1 avocado, seed removed, peeled and diced
1 ear corn, kernels removed
1 spring onion

Pico De Gallo

2 large tomatoes finely diced (or equivalent amount of plum or cherry tomatoes - I have used lots of yellow cherry tomatoes from my veggie garden in this recipe)
1 red or white onion, finely diced
1 handful coriander, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced
Juice of one lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Fish coating

2 heaped tablespoons Besan (chickpea) flour
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
NOTE: don't worry too much if you don't have all of these ingredients. Just make do with what you have, and aim to make a deliciously spicy coating for the fish.

Method

Pico De Gallo

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.

Fish

Place all Fish Coating ingredients on a plate and mix with a fork until well combined
Press both sides of each fish fillet into Fish Coating mixture and shake off excess.

Now you have two choices of how to cook it:

Shallow Fry Method:
Heat olive oil in frying pan and fry fish pieces until golden brown and cooked through - it should only take a few minutes if you are using whiting fillets.
When cooked, place on a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain.

Oven Bake Method:
Place fish fillets on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Spray with a fine mist of olive oil (optional - but it's well worth investing in an oil spray bottle. I love mine!).
Cook in a pre-heated oven (180 degrees) for 10-20 minutes. The cooking time will vary depending on which fish you use and how thick the fillet is. Check regularly and remove from oven when the fish flakes with a fork.

To assemble Fish Taco Lettuce Wraps

Arrange cos lettuce leaves on a platter
Top with Pico De Gallo and avocado
Place one fillet of whiting on each lettuce leaf
Sprinkle with corn kernels and spring onion