Crispy Fish Tacos with Lime Slaw

Ingredients

• 500 g cod fillets, cod or haddock, cut into strips
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 8 small flour tortillas, shop-bought
• 200 g red cabbage, very finely shredded
• 1 carrot, coarsely grated
• 2 limes, 1 for slaw, 1 to serve
• 1 tbsp honey
• 3 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp sriracha
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 15 g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• Buttered new potatoes, to serve
• Dressed green salad, to serve

Method

1. Toss the shredded cabbage and grated carrot with the lime juice, honey and a generous pinch of salt. Leave to sit for at least 10 minutes — the salt and acid soften the cabbage and pull the juices out, so it goes from squeaky-raw to glossy and slack.
2. Stir the sriracha through the mayonnaise until streaky and pink. Set aside.
3. Combine the flour, smoked paprika, cumin, a good pinch of salt and several grinds of black pepper on a plate. Bloom is built in here — once the spices hit the hot oil on the fish they wake up and stop tasting dusty, but only if they're properly seasoned to start with. Pat the fish strips dry first (water means steam, steam means no crust), then toss through the flour until evenly dusted on every side.
4. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Lay the fish in one at a time, leaving clear space between each piece — don't crowd the pan, or the temperature crashes and you'll steam the coating off instead of crisping it. Work in two batches if you need to. Fry for 2–3 minutes without nudging (the coating needs to set or it will stick), then flip and cook another 2 minutes until deeply golden and crackling at the edges.
5. Warm the tortillas in a dry frying pan for 20–30 seconds a side, until pliable with a few toasty brown spots.
6. Taste the slaw — it should be sharp, sweet and properly seasoned. Adjust now with another pinch of salt or a squeeze of lime if it's flat; at the table is too late.
7. Build each taco: smear a warm tortilla with sriracha mayo, pile on a tangle of lime slaw, lay over a couple of avocado slices, then top with 2–3 pieces of crispy fish. Scatter generously with coriander, squeeze a lime wedge over the top, fold and eat straight away while the fish is still crackling.