Thursday, April 18, 2013

Shrimp Tacos with Fried Plantain, Cilantro Rice, and Dressings Galore




I can't stop making tacos. Tacos, tacos, tacos!
This week, shrimp!

Ingredients:
1 cup peanut oil
2 ripe plantains
1 cup fresh cilantro
1.5 cups long grain white rice
pound big shrimps
1 ripe avocado
dry slaw mix
package of small corn tortillas
cayenne pepper to taste
coriander to taste
cumin to taste
garlic salt to taste
5 cloves garlic
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons skim milk (or water in a pinch. It's what Mexican restaurants use, anyway)
chipotle salsa
green salsa
Mexican beer for drinking

Prep cream sauce by adding 3 garlic cloves minced, pinch of cayenne pepper, cumin, coriander, and garlic salt to sour cream. I also add some Melinda's Habanero sauce to really spice it up, but keep in mind that adding another liquid will affect the consistency of the sauce, so make sure to add liquids before adding the milk or water, so you don't end up with something too runny. The right consistency should be that of any cream-based sauce you've been served in a Mexican restaurant. You can also make this into a cilantro-infused sauce by putting it in the food processor with a couple teaspoons of cilantro. The possibilities are endless when it comes to sauce. And this keeps very well in the fridge for leftovers.

Prep shrimp by thawing and peeling if necessary. Set aside. Start rice. I use a rice cooker and add in some garlic salt and cilantro to taste. For a cup of rice, I add a couple tablespoons of chopped cilantro. No one will mind if you add some butter, too. 

Slice avocado into bite size pieces, dice remaining cilantro for serving, place slaw in serving bowl. 

Slice plantain into small, even rounds, then cut in half. Heat peanut oil to medium-high heat. Toss raw plantain in pinch of cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic salt, and coriander to taste. Once oil is heated, add plantain, cover and fry for 3 mins, keeping an eye on them.You want the oil to almost crest the top of the plantains. Flip. Fry for 2 more minutes. I pulled mine out when they were browning but still fairly bright yellow. Peanut oil makes anything pretty crunchy, so you don't want to over-fry them because they'll actually be too hard to eat. But the peanut oil adds great flavor to this dish. If you're making this for friends, make sure to ask about nut allergies, though, as they won't even be able to enter your kitchen otherwise. Place fried plantain on a plate covered in paper towels to remove residual oil. 




Hang desired number of tortillas on oven rack rungs, making sure to hang each tortilla over TWO rungs. Turn oven on broil. Wait 3 mins and check tortillas. They should brown slightly when they're ready. 

Pour peanut oil from pan. Toss prepped shrimp in 2 cloves garlic diced, and cayenne, coriander, cumin, and garlic salt to taste. Place in plantain pan on medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Flip. Don't saute shrimp so long they start to curl into little rounds. That means you're over-cooking them. Barely wait for them to turn bright pink, and then pull them off heat. Most people over-cook shrimp. You don't have to. :) They have a wonderful texture when they aren't over-cooked.

Build you some tacos! I usually go in this order:
Dollop cream sauce
dry slaw
rice
shrimp and plantain
salsas
lil' more cream sauce
cilantro

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