Pescado Zarandeado, Popotla, BC

Popotla is a smuggling (yes, really) & fishing village near Puerto Nuevo, just south of Tijuana on the Pacific Coast. The fishermen scratch out what they can in the daytime and at night, load up their pangas with pollos and cruise north. Loads are dropped on San Diego beaches; most people get through. But while they wait for their ship to come in, perhaps the smugglees enjoy a nice corvina at one of Popotla’s shacks. This place is what Puerto Nuveo used to be like. Go soon, if you’re going.

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Fish Taco ‘Zarandeado’- fresh fish marinated with achiote and citrus adobo, grilled and wrapped up in a warm corn tortilla with avocado-cilantro sauce, pineapple-cucumber salsa, lime mayonesa, shreds of white cabbage, cilantro and lime. Pescado zarandeado is a specialty of the Pacific coast – whole fish butterflied, rubbed with adobo and grilled over a wood fire.

The ‘el jefe’ taco is el primo – a deluxe taco built of grilled filet, fat Gulf shrimp marinated in agave with lime and chiles on top and 2 pieces of avocado, lightly salted. The cheese underneath is a mixture of jack and oaxacan, creamy and soft. The salsa is spicy, made from charred serranos, roma tomato and tomatillo. It’s spicy, but the taco is so lush and rich it can carry the heat and an extra sprinkle of salt. Will forever redefine your idea of ‘taco.

This one's for The Boss.

Taco Bufalada, also called taco de la rana (frog taco) is created from a little of this and a little of that: grilled chicken and carne asada, a bit of carnitas, guacamole, radishes and pickled jalapeno; all piled up on a corn tortilla that’s been crisped on the plancha with melted cheese.