AuthorLaurie HernandezYields6 ServingsCategoryFusion, South American
I'm Cameroonian, Italian, and Spanish, so I like using produce from the African continent and cook them in a non-traditional way to blend several cultural influences into one dish. That makes it truly my own. This dish is quite representative of my cooking style.
When I tried plantain tacos for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy they were to make. As a flexitarian, I also like to experiment with different ways of cooking vegetables. I had cooked tacos with oyster mushrooms, for a more meat-like flavour and texture, but this time around I really wanted to highlight the vegetables and work with different textures.
I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Ingredients
Directions
Put the peppers and habanero chillies in the oven at 200°C / 400°F grill mode. After about 5 minutes, remove the chillies first, as they will be cooked before the peppers.
Cut the onion (or the shallots) into 4 pieces. Add them into a pot with garlic and kumquats. Cover with water. As soon the water starts boiling, remove the garlic. This is optional as you can add the garlic raw if you prefer to maintain the heat.
Wait 5 more minutes till the onion softens and remove it with the kumquat.
Blend everything together with the spices and the tomatoes. Put the sauce in a sterilized jar.
Next, prepare the sweet potatoes. In a salad bowl, mix the spices with the oil. Cut the sweet potato into big chunks and add them to the oil mix
Mix everything together to make sure the sweet potato chunks are coated with the marinade. Put them on an oven rack topped with parchment paper, and place in the oven at 180°C/360° for about 25-30 min or until soft.
In the meantime, mix the starch and flour with mil until you get a pancake-like consistency.
Cut the okras into 3–4 small pieces and put them in the milk-starch-flour mix. Blend a couple of minutes, until the slime of the okra is released, and set aside for later.
For the tortillas, cut the plantains into 4 pieces and boil them for 15 minutes or till soft (you can boil them in the same water used to cover the onion, garlic, and kumquat).
Using a food processor, blend the cooked plantains until it forms a ball. You can also pound the plantain until smooth.
Split the plantain into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
Cut two squares of medium-heavy plastic (a freezer bag works nicely). Put the plantain ball between the 2 squares and roll it into a flat tortilla.
Place the tortilla in a pan on medium-high heat. Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side and set aside in a plate covered with a towel to keep them warm.
For the okras, heat the frying oil. Remove the okras from its batter, put them in the panko mix and cover them well. For extra crispiness, dip them in the batter again, and once more in the panko mix before putting them in the oil. Fry until golden and set aside.
Finally, slice the herbs and onions very thinly, add the lime juice, and set aside.
To build the tacos, put bits of sweet potato and okras on top of the plantain tortilla, and top with the salsa and the herb mix.
Ingredients
Directions
Put the peppers and habanero chillies in the oven at 200°C / 400°F grill mode. After about 5 minutes, remove the chillies first, as they will be cooked before the peppers.
Cut the onion (or the shallots) into 4 pieces. Add them into a pot with garlic and kumquats. Cover with water. As soon the water starts boiling, remove the garlic. This is optional as you can add the garlic raw if you prefer to maintain the heat.
Wait 5 more minutes till the onion softens and remove it with the kumquat.
Blend everything together with the spices and the tomatoes. Put the sauce in a sterilized jar.
Next, prepare the sweet potatoes. In a salad bowl, mix the spices with the oil. Cut the sweet potato into big chunks and add them to the oil mix
Mix everything together to make sure the sweet potato chunks are coated with the marinade. Put them on an oven rack topped with parchment paper, and place in the oven at 180°C/360° for about 25-30 min or until soft.
In the meantime, mix the starch and flour with mil until you get a pancake-like consistency.
Cut the okras into 3–4 small pieces and put them in the milk-starch-flour mix. Blend a couple of minutes, until the slime of the okra is released, and set aside for later.
For the tortillas, cut the plantains into 4 pieces and boil them for 15 minutes or till soft (you can boil them in the same water used to cover the onion, garlic, and kumquat).
Using a food processor, blend the cooked plantains until it forms a ball. You can also pound the plantain until smooth.
Split the plantain into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
Cut two squares of medium-heavy plastic (a freezer bag works nicely). Put the plantain ball between the 2 squares and roll it into a flat tortilla.
Place the tortilla in a pan on medium-high heat. Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side and set aside in a plate covered with a towel to keep them warm.
For the okras, heat the frying oil. Remove the okras from its batter, put them in the panko mix and cover them well. For extra crispiness, dip them in the batter again, and once more in the panko mix before putting them in the oil. Fry until golden and set aside.
Finally, slice the herbs and onions very thinly, add the lime juice, and set aside.
To build the tacos, put bits of sweet potato and okras on top of the plantain tortilla, and top with the salsa and the herb mix.
