Mon, 24 July 2023
Ingredients
Serves 4 (3 tacos each)
· 12 courgette flowers
· 200g mozzarella
· Salt
· Sunflower oil for deep frying
· 12 corn tortillas (12-13cm diameter)*
· 24 sprigs of coriander
For the pineapple salsa
· ½ small pineapple
· 1 scotch bonnet or habanero chilli (or to taste)
· 1 shallot (or ¼ red onion)
· ½ lime (juice only)
· Pinch of salt
For the Cabbage
· 200g red cabbage
· ½ teaspoon cumin
· ½ lime (juice only)
· Pinch of salt
For the crema
· 200g sour cream
· 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
· 2 tablespoons chipotle in adobo
· ½ lime (juice only)
· Pinch of salt
For the batter
· 100g plain flour
· 100g cornflour
· ½ teaspoon salt
· 200-220ml cold sparkling water (or use beer)
Method
1. Start by preparing all the fillings.
2. To make the pineapple salsa. Cut the skin off the pineapple, remove the eyes and the tough core and finely chop the pineapple and put it in a bowl. Finely chop the chilli and the shallot and add it to the pineapple. If you don’t want it too spicy don’t add all the chilli. Add the salt and lime juice and mix well. Taste and add more salt or lime juice as needed.
3. Finely slice the cabbage and add the cumin, lime juice and salt. Mix really well as the salt and lime will help soften the cabbage a bit. I use my hands to give the cabbage a good mix and squeeze.
4. For the crema, mix together the sour cream and mayonnaise. Finely chop the chipotles in adobo and add to the cream mixture. Add lime juice and salt to taste.
5. To make the batter, weigh the flours into a large bowl. Add the salt and use a whisk to mix well. Add most of the sparkling water and whisk to mix, add a little more water if needed, the batter should be slightly thicker than double cream.
6. Gently shake the courgette flowers to remove any bugs and dirt. Divide the mozzarella into 12 pieces and season with salt. Stuff the courgette flowers with a piece of mozzarella and gently twist together the end of the petals to hold the mozzarella inside.
7. Preheat the oven to 100°C.
8. In a wok or deep pan add the sunflower oil to a depth of about 10cm. Heat the oil until it reaches 180°C. Once the oil is hot dip a courgette flower into the batter until it is completely covered, being careful to keep the end twisted to hold in the cheese and gently drop it into the hot oil. Repeat with three more flowers. Fry the flowers for about 3 minutes turning them over in the hot oil until they are crisp and cooked on all sides and just starting to go a little brown.
9. Remove the flowers with a slotted spoon and put them on an oven-proof platter or baking tray lined with kitchen paper. Put them in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the next two batches of courgette flowers. Don’t try to cook all the courgette flowers at once as the temperature of the oil will drop and the batter will go soggy rather than crisp.
10. Warm the corn tortillas, either by passing them over a gas flame using tongs for a couple of seconds on each side or by putting them into a hot, dry frying pan for about 15 seconds on each side. Wrap them in a tea towel to keep them warm.
11. To assemble put a generous teaspoon of the crema on a corn tortilla. Add the sliced cabbage and pineapple salsa on top and then a fried courgette flower and a couple of sprigs of coriander. Eat immediately.
*I usually make my own corn tortillas, it is very easy to do if you can find masa harina (nixtamlized corn), just follow the instructions on the packet. But if you don’t want to make your own, corn tortillas are increasingly widely available or if you can’t find them use flour tortillas instead.
