Monkfish and Prawn Tacos with Cabbage and Coriander Salad

Serves 2

Takes 50 minutes

Inspired by Empellon Taqueria, an excellent Mexican restaurant we went to on a freezing cold night in New York in February of 2017, this lovely dish matches the spicy salt of the fish with the rich, creamy avocado, the sweet/savoury crispness of the salad and of course that all-important corny taco flavour. We've also done it with fillets of sea bream (above right), and stone bass, and it was equally gorgeous. The cooking time is the same for them. For the salad, we’ve found that hispi or pointed white cabbage work the best. What won’t work as well are the more solid whites or reds or the frillier cabbages. We’ve made the tacos entirely gluten free by substituting the wheat flour with Dove’s Free From Gluten Plain White Flour and it works a treat. The tacos freeze well too; once you've rolled them out, interleave them with greaseproof paper and put in a lunchbox. The dough doesn't freeze well in a single lump though. They can be cooked from frozen, or thawed and then cooked.


The salad:-

150g hispi or pointed white cabbage, very finely shredded

2 tspns chives, finely chopped

1 tbspn coriander leaves, finely chopped

1 mexican chilli eg. De Arbol, finely chopped (we’ve also done it with a 50/50 mixture of De Arbols and Cascabels, which worked beautifully)

The fish:-

6 medium sized raw tiger prawns, peeled and veined

225g monkfish, cut into 6 pieces the same size as the prawns

The marinade for the fish:-

1 dstspn juice from the chipotle jar

1 tspn sweet paprika

1 tspn lime powder

1 tspn salt

2 tbspns extra virgin olive oil

The tacos:-

100g masa harina

40g plain flour

½ tsp salt

4 tsp groundnut oil

140 mls warm water

The puree:-

1 large ripe avocado

½ tbspn lime juice

½ tspn sugar

½ tspn salt


  • Mix together all the tortilla ingredients till you have a firm dough with a kind of Plasticeney consistency. Knead for 5 minutes, then cover the bowl with a towel and leave for 15 minutes

  • Blitz the avocado puree ingredients, and set aside, covered with cling film

  • Mix all the cabbage salad ingredients in a bowl and set aside

  • Mix all the fish marinade ingredients, then rub it into the monkfish and prawns carefully so the fish is completely covered. Place the fish on a silicon sheet on a baking tray or a non-stick baking tray and set aside

  • Once the dough has rested for 15 minutes, break off a lump the size of a golf ball, and roll out till it’s about 3mm thick; if you’re doing the gluten free option, we’ve found it’s easiest to roll it between sheets of greaseproof paper. Use a pastry cutter about 9cm in diameter to cut out a circle. Repeat with more dough lumps until you have six circles

  • Turn your oven on to 180C/Gas mark 4. When it’s up to temperature, put the fish in and set your timer for 8 minutes

  • Meanwhile, brush your tortilla discs with a tiny amount of oil, and fry them in a medium to hot frying pan, turning them so they’re crisping nicely, and just starting to colour and smell lovely and corny

  • When your timer beeps, test the fish with a blunt knife. If it’s done, take it out, if not, give it another minute or two

  • Put three tortillas on each of two plates and spread with the avocado mix. Scatter a good handful of the cabbage salad around them

  • Onto each tortilla place one piece of fish and one prawn and dribble some of the marinade from the baking tray over the fish and the salad. Serve immediately