Zak and Tamar’s moki goujon tacos

1. First, thinly, thinly slice your cabbage as if you are making a slaw, pop it in a bowl and add vinegar and salt. Mix through with your hands – don’t be shy, we want the cabbage to lose a bit of structural integrity. Leave aside.

2. Now, let’s make the chipotle sauce. Pop the sour cream in a bowl. Open your tin of peppers and smush (smash and mush) a couple of teaspoons of the peppers and sauce on a chopping board. Just use the back of a knife – nothing fancy – to break down any big chunks. Mix in half into the sour cream – have a taste and add more depending on your level of spice preference (remember that it will be dulled down a bit once added to the dish, so it’s a good idea to make it a tiny bit spicier). Season the chipotle cream with salt, pepper, ½ teaspoon soft brown sugar and a teaspoon of vinegar (again adjust the seasoning to your taste).

3. In a bowl add seasoned flour and whisk in beer/soda water (colder the better) until combined. Set aside for 5–10 minutes. While the batter is settling, get a plate and lay out about ½ cup of seasoned flour to dust your fish. Slice your fish into manageable long slices – think 2 big bites per goujon.

Heat your oil to about 180 degrees – you can shallow or deep-fry this dish depending how you feel – we recommend deep-frying though! Test your oil temp by dropping a drop of batter – if it doesn’t sizzle immediately, it isn’t hot enough.

4. Once the oil is hot enough, start battering some bits of fish. Dust a couple of fish at a time with flour, then dunk in batter – let it drip off a bit before slipping it (carefully) into the hot oil and frying in batches. Let them fry for 2 minutes each until golden brown.

Once fried, place on a plate lined with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt.

5. Heat your tortillas one at a time in a dry pan. You don’t want them crispy – just a tiny bit of colour and all the way warmed through. Keep the warm ones in a folded teatowel (get a clean one out of the cupboard please, ya grub). Squeeze your cabbage so all the moisture comes out.

Now put everything on the table and let the whānau build their own taco!

If you are plating up, we suggest a smear of sauce first, a sprinkling of cabbage, 2 goujons, more sauce and coriander to finish – can also add jalapenos for extra spice if you’re game!