Food Goes In Mouth

It’s that time again! Time to throw my little recipe in the ring with a handful of other food bloggers and pray to God I don’t get word-punched in the face by the judges. It’s Foodie Fights! The ingredients this round: Black Beans and Coconut.

If you slog through my recent posts you’ll notice that I’ve been making a lot of food whilst on the run. Whether it be in a hotel, in a friend’s spiffy apartment, or not a recipe altogether, I’ve had to make do with what I was dealt. Work has since settled down, so I signed up for another Foodie Fights battle, stupidly forgetting that I would be going to this little thing called LovEvolution. This story could go on forever but to make it short: I had to cook on the road again.

No little experiments, no tweaking recipes, no backup plans. I had a one-meal window to cook dinner for some friends and their family. So here is what I went with:

What I Used

• Wonton wrappers, round. What I actually did in this case is take egg roll wrappers, the large square ones, and cut them into circles by placing a bowl upside down and tracing it with a knife. Why? The store was out of round wrappers. Count: 13.
• Black beans, canned. That’s right, canned. 1 – 1lb 10oz can. Negative points for me. But hey, I didn’t have a day to soak these things. Small window, so I did what I could. And when a couple diners complemented on how unexpected and nice the beans were, it eased my mind about using them.
• White coconut, fresh and busted open with a hammer and chisel phillips-head screwdriver.
• Savoy cabbage, chopped.
• Carrot, julienned.
• Coconut Milk, 8 oz.
• Juice of four(4) limes.
• Lemongrass, minced, 2 Tbsp.
• Egg yolk, 1.
• Rice Vinegar, 1/2 cup.
• Safflower Oil, 1/2 cup.

What I Did

1. Fill a skillet 1/2 inch deep with safflower oil and bring to high heat (400-450°F)
2. Fold wonton skins in half and place in the oil. With metal tongs grab the edge of the top half of the wonton and lift it out of the oil so that only the bottom half cooks. Do this until brown, flip it, and repeat with the bottom half. You’ll notice that the degree to which you lift the top half out of the oil works to shape the taco shell. You might screw up the first couple, but it just takes practice. After a few you’ll be a pro. When you’ve made these just place them on a paper towel to dry off any excess oil.
3. Open can o’ beans. Place in a small pot, bring to a simmer, and add salt.
4. In a blender or food processor add coconut milk, lime juice, lemongrass, egg yolk, and rice vinegar. Turn it on and drizzle in the 1/2 cup of safflower oil.
5. Toss equal parts savoy cabbage and carrot with this mixture, just so the veggies are coated.
6. Place a couple spoonfuls of beans into the taco shells followed by the veggie mixture.
7. Shave fresh coconut over the tacos by taking a spoon and running it along the flesh, as if you were shaving ice.

Whew, that’s that. For a first run, blind recipe, this came out amazing. The only modification I will make in the future is on the ratio of emulsifier (egg yolk) and oil to the rest of the coconut lime vinaigrette mixture. It should be thicker.

I’ve got to give some credit to Pier 46 Seafood. There was an event at the Donati Family tasting room where they served these amazing Ahi Tartar Mini Tacos. I fell in love with their wonton taco shells and had to rip them off :)

So…yea, there we are. Black beans and coconut. I think I can get away with using the name “Thai Tacos” because the flavors of the sauce (lime, coconut milk, lemongrass) are similar to Tom Kha. If anyone tries it at home I hope they enjoy it as much as the folks who ate this batch. And here’s to hoping things go as well in the fight as last time.

If you feel so inclined you can vote for me (or whoever you like, really) here.