Recipe for Mexican fish tostadas like my American mother makes them
My mother grew up with Mexican cuisine in California. Many traditional Mexican dishes were adapted at home. This dish is a great example of that. You can easily prepare it in advance and then throw it together just before you sit down at the table. The combination of mildly spicy peppers, fresh coriander, the crispy fish and the tortilla shell with a soft bean filling make it an absolute winner.
How to make Mexican fish tostadas
Quite rightly, my son wondered why it is called a tostada and not a tortilla when he saw the packet of tortillas lying there. Simply put, because a tostada is a toasted (or deep-fried) Mexican tortilla. The tostada was actually invented as a way to use old tortillas that had already become tough, just as we make a toasted sandwich in the Netherlands from stale bread, really.
You can also very easily make this dish vegetarian by leaving out the fish, and vegan by leaving out the cheese as well (or replacing it with vegan cheese, if you can find one that is really good) and using vegan mayo instead of regular mayonnaise. But I make it nice and old-school: with fish sticks! Prefer chicken or thinly sliced steak? Also delicious!
The guacamole
Pretty much everyone has their own recipe for guacamole. You don’t? Then make it like this:
Finely chop the tomatoes and let the juice drain out; you don’t want to use it. Finely chop the coriander as well, along with the spring onions (only the green parts). Put the chopped vegetables and herbs in a bowl. Set aside a cup of this mixture; you’ll need it for the bean dish. Squeeze half a lime over it. Chop the avocados and add them. Add half a spoonful of the Diced Chipotle Pepper, 1 tablespoon of taco sauce and a little salt. Also delicious: this version of Californian guacamole.
For the tortillas
Heat the pan until it is very hot. Add the oil, let the oil heat up and place the tortilla in the pan. Turn it over repeatedly until it is brown and starts to bubble. Note: the tortilla should remain soft. Take a bowl and press the tortilla into it so that it takes the shape of a shell.
The bean dish
Drain the beans and rinse them with cold water. Grease a medium-sized oven dish with a little oil. Add the drained beans, along with some cumin seeds and salt. Finely chop two tablespoons of jalapeños and add them to the beans. Use a potato masher to mash everything. Add the herb-and-tomato mixture with a little sunflower oil. Top with two tablespoons of grated cheese. Cover with aluminium foil. Place in a preheated oven and bake for twenty minutes at 180 degrees.
The fish
Prepare the fish according to the instructions on the packaging. Once the fish has cooled, cut or tear it into small pieces.
Mango on the side
Cut the mango into cubes and sprinkle with the chilli flakes.
Tasty sauce
Make a sauce with the Diced Chipotle Pepper and mayonnaise. Just mix the two together by eye.
Filling the tostadas
Fill the warm tostadas. Start with the lettuce, then the bean dish, followed by the fish. Add a tablespoon of the Diced Chipotle Pepper sauce to each tostada, along with some jalapeños (for those who like things spicy), taco sauce and the killer guac. Cover with the grated cheese. The mango goes on the side. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over everything. Dig in!
Wine tip
Fish sticks want to swim too, so go on, pour a glass of crisp white wine to go with them. Such as Mar de Frades Albariño Atlántico, a beautiful blue bottle full of sloshing seawater, referring to the rugged region where the wine comes from: Galicia, in northwestern Spain, sheltered by the Atlantic Ocean. Albariño is the pride of the region. The wines made from the grape of the same name are real crowd-pleasers, with delicious flavours such as apricot, lime zest, peach and grapefruit, combined with fresh acidity and a salty influence from the sea. Hence their nickname: ‘wines of the sea’. Fruity, juicy and fresh—a perfect match for the tostadas!
Also read:
