A week or so back a friend on Facebook posted a quick and easy fish taco recipe and I had promised to post one back but feeling inspired I decided to cook them up this past weekend and take some photos for the blog. Ok actually that is a lie this is not a fish taco recipe it's a shrimp taco recipe, but the original recipe called for Grouper, which is a little pricey so I substituted shrimp a couple years ago and haven't looked back.
This is actually a fairly easy recipe but it does have a few components, so it looks like a lot. It isn't. I promise. Just make it in steps. You will need the following to make tasty shrimp-y tacos:
Shrimp
Homemade Pineapple/Mango Salsa
Chipolte Sour Cream
Shredded lettuce (or cabbage)
Tortillas (corn or flour, crispy or soft-your choice)
So let's start with the salsa because it really is the most complicated part of the dish-I like to make it the day before so it has time to macerate (is that how you spell that word and why do I giggle each time I say that?)
Ok Salsa ingredients:
Actual recipe reads as follows...
1/2 large pineapple, peeled and cut into cubes
2 ripe mangos, peeled and cut into cubes
3/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbs. fresh chopped seeded jalapeno
2 tablespoons lime juice
Salt
Only thing I altered was that my ratio of onion to jalapeno is about equal-I like a lot of kick, and I actually don't think it was overly spicy.
I like to cut everything for this salsa very small, more like a dice than a cube really, which can be tough with the pineapple and mango but I do think smaller is better. By the way just in case you haven't worked with one the best way to do the mango is to cut off the peel like this...
Then cut each of the 4 sides off so you are left with the hard pit part at the end.
So basically just chop everything, squeeze some lime over the top and mix it up and you are good to go. Add salt if you would like but really it may not need it.
Finished product will look a bit like this:
Put it in a plastic container and let it hang out in the fridge for a day.
You can also prep your sour cream--here's what you do. You get a small tub of sour cream and you add some chopped chipolte peppers into it (around 2 plus some of the sauce from the can.) You then squeeze in some lime juice and stir it up. Easy peasy right?
Ok so I forgot to take a picture until I had dumped the chopped peppers into the sour cream. I also usually seed my chipoltes, I think the seeds can be a little tough to chew sometimes.
So the day you wish to eat the tacos here is all you do...get some shrimp. Actually for this recipe smaller ones are better, peel them, devein them, (or save your self the trouble and buy them that way.)
See that red stuff? That's some more sauce from the chipolte pepper can. It's optional. I also squeezed some more lime in there-also optional. Now just cook the shrimp. It really doesn't matter how. Grilled can be good, I did mine in this basket (which by the way is a pain to clean.)
You can just as easily cook the shrimp in a pan on the stovetop. Just get them nice and pink and cooked.
I also tossed my tortillas on the grill this time, but that is also optional-just fix your taco vessel however you like.
So then just lay everything out-tortillas, shrimp, salsa, lettuce (oh yeah I forgot to mention, shred/chop some lettuce or cabbage for crunch) and your chipolte sour cream.
That large cup is not full of beer, it is full of milk-really! Ok see that sqeezey bottle? It has the sour cream in it, I think for tacos you always need the sour cream in a squeezey bottle. Problem is though with this sour cream with the chopped chipoltes in it, the peppers get stuck in the nozzle, so you have to squeeze extra hard. And then when it pops out it sort of makes a big blob of stuff on your taco, so your taco is not as photogenic as it should be. But then again this isn't a photography blog so...you get what you get...
The recipe sounds weird I know, but you are going to have to trust me on this one...the flavors all work together perfectly! Happy taco-ing!
