Tuesday it’s not Tuesday without tacos!
Delicious jackfruit cooked in rich Ethiopian sauce, juicy sweet corn salsa, creamy guacamole and zingy lime, you’ll definitely be begging for more. Unlike traditional meat-based tacos, this jackfruit “pulled pork” taco recipe uses a much healthier protein.
Taking just a little extra time to make these green corn tortillas makes all the difference in your homemade tacos!
Let`s make green corn tortillas.
The green adds a fun twist to your tortilla thanks to the secret ingredient, spinach. The first step is to make a green coloring using spinach leaves. Blanched spinach is a great food coloring. It has a vibrant color which more stable for high-temperature baking than fresh spinach.
Are you ready to tackle making homemade tortillas from masa?
Masa or masa harina is a very finely ground corn flour made from corn that’s dried, cooked in water with slaked lime, ground, and dried again. Mixed with water, it forms the dough called “masa” that is used to make authentic corn tortillas in Mexico and Latin America. Masa harina is gluten-free flour.
If a recipe calls for masa, don’t substitute corn meal or regular corn flour. These other products are made from different types of corn and processed differently. Check the nearest organic shop probably you can find the masa there.
If you’d like to form your tortilla into a clean circle use 12 cm bowl or lid. A little pressure, a slight twist and you have a perfectly round tortilla.
With a rich history in India, and South-East Asia jackfruit is making waves in the world for its remarkable nutrition. Jackfruit “pulled pork” became one of the favorite meat substitutes for vegans across the world.
There are two ways of using jackfruit. It could be used as a vegetable in curry if it unripe. Or could be eaten as fruit when it ripe. While unripe fruits are green, they turn light brown and spread a strong sweet, fruity smell once ripe. Ripe jackfruit is nice and sweet, its taste is between mango and banana.
The fruit varies widely in size, its weight from 3 to 30 kg. On the photo, you can see jackfruits which me and my friend found in a fruit shop in Bali. It is called Nangka in Indonesia.
Jackfruit can also be found in the canned goods packed in syrup, brine or water. Canned jackfruit is very cheap in an Asian grocery store. You can also find it in an organic shop.
This jackfruit recipe is exotically delicious and makes for a fantastic vegetarian or vegan taco or sandwich filling. Jackfruit, although a vegetable, has the texture of pork. I cooked it in the thick spicy Ethiopian sauce.
Have you already tried Mamia`s sauces?
Mamia’s sauces produced by people who passionate about bringing authentic Ethiopian food to your dinner table. Wat is one of Ethiopia’s most popular cooking sauces. Mamia`s sauces prepare in small batches over many hours, combining New Zealand and imported produce with spices sourced directly from Ethiopia to capture the true taste of Ethiopian home cooking.
Wat is an onion-based sauce, slowly simmered caramelized onion make the taste of the sauce is absolutely amazing. So if you like caramelized onion, you will love this sauce too.
Highly aromatic and flavorful Barbere blend makes the taste of sauce a rich and deep. The sauce could be used for a big range of curries with meat, poultry, seafood, tofu and even jackfruit.
Mamia`s sauces are vegan-friendly. Prepared with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. Sauces available in three options: medium spicy, mild and kiwi hot.
Ingredients
For corn tortillas (12 cm )
13 tortillas
- 2 cups instant corn masa flour
- bunch of spinach (or 3 cups of baby spinach)
- 1 1/2 cup of water
For jackfruit “pulled pork”:
- 400g can green jackfruit (in water, not syrup)
- 1 cup Mamia`s Wat medium spicy sauce
- 1 cup vegetable stock or water
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- cooking oil
- Himalayan salt
- black pepper
For corn salsa:
- 2 ears corn on the cob, husks, and silk removed
- one punnet yellow cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 1 cup finely sliced red cabbage
- one green chili, finely sliced
- bunch of cilantro, chopped
- lime juice
- Himalayan salt
To serve:
- two ripe avocados, mashed and seasoned with salt and lime juice
- lime wedges
- coriander leaves
- fresh chili or chili sauce (Tabasco)
Directions
- Corn tortillas. Put the spinach leaves in the pan with 1 1/2 cup of boiling water, and allow them to boil for about 30 seconds until you see a bright green color. Chill it slightly, then blend blanched spinach with remaining liquid in a high-speed blender. The green coloring is ready.
- Place corn masa flour in a bowl and add 1 1/4 cup of spinach liquid (room temperature). Mix thoroughly for a few minutes until the dough forms a firm ball. If the mix too dry add 1/4 cup more liquid. Divide dough into 13 equal balls and cover with a damp tea towel.
- There are three ways of making a tortilla. Press the dough in a Tortilla Press if you have this device. Or flatten dough ball in hands and place between two sheets of baking paper, then roll using a rolling pin. Or just roll the dough on clean, smooth surface using a rolling pin. A dough scraper is a very helpful here.
- Cook tortillas on preheated un-greased cast iron pan for 30 seconds, then turn and continue cooking another 45 seconds. Turn once more for 20 seconds, the tortilla should puff lightly. Take care not to overcook or they will be dry and will crack. Place the warm tortillas on top of each other in the deep ceramic pot and cover with a damp tea towel while cooking the remaining tortillas.
- For jackfruit ‘”pulled pork”. Rinse, drain, and thoroughly dry jackfruit. Cut into bite-size pieces. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp of cooking oil (I use grapeseed oil) and slightly seasoned jackfruit. Toss to coat and cook for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Add Mamia`s sauce and a cup of hot vegetable stock. Stir and reduce heat to low- medium and cook for about 40 minutes or until jackfruit is soft and mushy. Add more sauce or water if stew is too dry. Check the stew for salt. Please remember to salt sparingly, and taste before you add more salt or any other seasonings.
- For corn salsa. Fill the bottom of the steamer with water (about 5cm). While steam is building up, remove husks from corn. When water has come to a boil, add corn, cover with a tight-fitting lid and steam for 5 minutes. Chill the corn.
- Cut corn kernels off the cob. Cutting corn kernels off the cob can be challenging. Corn can fly all over your kitchen and you can spend more time cleaning up than preparing the dish. One way to make this process easier is to first lay it down and cut the corn off horizontally instead of vertically. Give it a try!
- Put all ingredients for corn salsa into a large salad bowl, drizzle with lime juice, season with salt and toss gently together.
- Assemble each taco with jackfruit “pulled pork”, corn salsa, guacamole (mashed avocado), chili and coriander leaves. Serve immediately with lime wedges and chili sauce. Enjoy!
