Taco

In Cape Town where I grew up, Taco was a word that just didn’t figure in the local lingo. Especially seeing that it had a food connotation. I think the reason was that the the coloured people (or mixed people as they are now referred to) had a very strong but local food history. If it was influenced by other cultures, it would have been the Dutch, German and perhaps a bit of French and English, definitely not Mexican.

It was only much later when people from other countries immigrated to South Africa and when the high influx of tourists from all across the globe demanded versions of their own cuisine be served in the bigger South African centres, that dishes like Tacos made their appearance on the local menus.

So, seeing that Tacos are now here to stay, I am not going to buck the system. In fact I’m going to post some taco ideas for your recipe portfolio. Enjoy!

Easy vegan tacos

INGREDIENTS

• For the crunchy baked avocados:
• 2–3  avocados
• 100 g macadamia nut flour or breadcrumbs
• 100 g rice flour or wheat flour
• 1 cup fresh coconut milk
• 20 g Asian satay marinade powder (or Cajun spice)
• For the peanut sauce:
• 1 T coconut or olive oil
• 1–2 T Thai red chilli paste (or ½ each prepared garlic, chilli and ginger cubes)
• 1 cup fresh coconut milk
• 1 T no salt and no sugar added smooth peanut butter
• 1–2 T soya sauce
• juice of 1 lime
• 1–2 t maple syrup or brown sugar
• To assemble:
• 8 small lllwraps
• Peanuts, whole to garnish 
• pink pickled onions
• tomatoes, sliced
• Brussels sprouts or cabbage, and fresh herbs.

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 180° C. Crumb the avocados in the macadamia flour or breadcrumbs and line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Fill one bowl with 40 g rice or wheat flour, another bowl with the coconut milk and a third bowl with the remaining rice flour, macadamia nut flour and the satay marinade powder or Cajun spice or paprika.

3. Cut the avocados into chunky slices so they are easy to handle. Dip each piece into the rice flour to coat, then submerge in the coconut milk and lastly coat in the macadamia flour mix.

4. Arrange on a baking tray and bake for 7 minutes on one side, then turn over and bake for a further 7 minutes, until golden brown and crunchy. You can also fry them in shallow oil until golden if you prefer, then drain on kitchen paper.

5. While the avocado is baking, make the peanut sauce. Fry the garlic, ginger and chilli for 30 seconds in the oil, then add the coconut milk. Bring to a gentle simmer and stir in the peanut butter to dissolve. Once dissolved, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Season with soya sauce, lime juice and maple syrup or brown sugar to taste. The sauce will thicken naturally as it cools.

6. To serve, toast the wraps in a dry, non-stick pan and serve warm topped with the warm crumbed avocado, peanut sauce, crunchy peanuts, pickled red onion and tomatoes with shredded Brussel sprouts or cabbage and fresh herbs.

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Crowd-pleasing crispy fish tacos

INGREDIENTS

• 6–8 corn taco shells
• 1 x 400 g fillet fresh hake, cut into strips
• canola oil, for frying
• microherbs, for serving
• Exotic tomatoes, sliced, for serving
• 2 cobs sweetcorn, chargrilled
• limes, halved, for serving
• For the avocado-and-sour cream drizzle:
• 1 avocado, cubed
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• ½ cup sour cream
• sea salt, to taste
• For the tempura-style batter:
• 150 g rice flour
• 120 g self-raising flour
• 2 cups cold soda water
• 2 T smoked paprika
• 1 T cayenne pepper
• 1 T ground cumin
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Bake the taco shells according to package instructions.

To make the avocado-and-sour cream drizzle, place all the ingredients into a blender and process until smooth. Loosen with a little water if necessary.

To make the batter, whisk all the ingredients together just before cooking the fish to make sure it stays as light and airy as possible. Dip the fish into the batter and fry in the hot oil until puffed up, crispy and golden. Drain on kitchen paper.

Serve immediately in the taco shells with the microherbs, tomatoes, chargrilled corn and avocado-and-sour cream drizzle.

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Slow roasted pork mole tacos.

INGREDIENTS

• For the mole:
• 2 T canola oil
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 t dried chilli flakes
• 2 t ground cinnamon
• 8 cloves
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1 t smoked paprika
• 200 g Roma tomatoes
• 1 cup freshly prepared coffee
• 100 g seedless raisins
• 2 T brown sugar
• Sea salt, to taste
• 2 kg pork shoulder, skin removed
• 6 tortillas
• 2 avocados, stoned
• 2 limes
• 1 T coriander, roughly chopped
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 4 ripe tomatoes
• 1 cup sour cream, for serving

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

To make the mole, heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and preheat the oven to 180°C. Cook the onions until coloured. Add the garlic, chilli, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, paprika and tomatoes.

Cook until the tomatoes are soft, then add the coffee, raisins and brown sugar. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes, then season with salt. Blend in a food processor until coarse.

Place the pork shoulder in a large roasting bag, then pour in the mole. Seal the bag and roast for 2 hours, or until the meat begins to fall from the bone. Allow to((/ cool slightly in the bag, then tear chunks of meat from the bone.

Toast the tortillas directly over a flame or in a dry pan. Combine the avocado with the juice of 1 lime and toss with the coriander. Mix the red onion with the red wine vinegar and marinate for 10 minutes, then mix with the avocado. Slice the tomato into wedges and add to the mixture. Season to taste with salt.

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Buffalo wing-style cauliflower tacos

INGREDIENTS

• 120 g flour
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 x 50 g box fajita spice
• 100–150 g panko crumbs
• 700 g cauliflower florets or Fioretto
• 1–2 T smoked paprika
• 1–2 cups canola oil, for frying
• BBQ sauce, for serving
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 ripe avocados, halved and chargrilled
• multiseed wraps, toasted
• fresh coriander, for serving
• For the pickled onions:
• 1 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 T caster sugar
• ½ lime, juiced
• 1 t peppercorns
• 2 red onions, cut into wedges
• 10 radishes, sliced
• For the guacamole:
• 2 avocados, stoned and chopped
• 15 g coriander, chopped
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 green chilli, sliced
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Whisk the flour, almond milk, ¼ cup water, half the fajita spice and a good pinch of salt. Combine the remaining fajita spice with the panko crumbs.

Dip the cauliflower into the batter to coat, shaking off any excess, then roll in the spiced panko crumbs. Fry in batches in the oil until golden and crunchy. Drain on kitchen paper.

To make the pickled onions, bring the red wine vinegar, caster sugar, lime juice and peppercorns to the boil. Remove from the heat, add the onions and radishes and allow to stand until cool.

Blend all the guacamole ingredients and serve with the toasted wraps, grilled avocado, crunchy cauliflower, BBQ sauce, pickled onions and fresh coriander.

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Chicken tacos with blue cheese dressing

INGREDIENTS

• 1 x 500 g pack spicy crumbed mini chicken breast fillets
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 Choice wraps, chargrilled, for serving
• 1 x 250 g tub prepared mango, for serving
• spring onion curls, for serving
• red onion, sliced, for serving
• celery curls, for serving
• 2 chillies, sliced, for serving
• For the blue cheese dressing, mix:
• 2 T good-quality mayonnaise
• ¼ cup plain full-cream yoghurt
• 100 g Woolworths ïDanablu blue cheese, crumbled
• 2 t white wine or apple cider vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Bake the chicken according to package instructions.

Serve the chicken with the chargrilled wraps, mango, spring onion, red onion, celery, chillies and blue cheese dressing.