Crispy Jerk Barbecue Tacos
This incredibly tasty Caribbean twist on a Mexican classic is bursting with flavour and is guaranteed to be popular with vegans and meat eaters alike.
From the book
Rachel Ama’s Vegan Eats: Tasty plant-based recipes for every day
Tasty vegan food inspired by Rachel's Caribbean, West African and British roots.
With bold, mouthwatering recipes, fresh twists on old favourites, and delicious bakes.
Full of clever tips and hacks to help you create exciting, flavourful vegan dishes.
Introduction
A Caribbean twist on a classic Mexican taco. Oyster mushrooms are marinated in a sweet and spicy barbecue jerk sauce, roasted until crispy and then served in a tortilla with a cooling salsa, crunchy red cabbage, fresh lime juice, jerk mayonnaise and, of course, some fried plantains. These incredibly tasty tacos get me dancing every damn time!
Ingredients
| 8 | small soft flour tortillas |
| ½ head of | red cabbage, finely sliced |
| 1 | lime, cut into 4 wedges |
| A handful of | fresh coriander, finely chopped |
| 2 | spring onions, finely chopped |
| 2 | fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely sliced |
| For the mango avocado salsa: | |
| 1 | mango, finely diced |
| 1 | avocado, finely diced |
| ½ | red onion, finely chopped |
| 1 | red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped |
| 2 tbsp | extra-virgin olive oil |
| 1 tbsp | fresh lime juice |
| A handful of | fresh coriander, finely chopped |
| salt and black pepper | |
| For the fried plantains: | |
| 2 | ripe plantains |
| 2 tbsp | vegetable oil |
| salt | |
| For the jerk barbecue mushrooms: | |
| 500g | oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped |
| 1 tbsp | olive oil |
| 120ml | jerk barbecue sauce |
| For the jerk mayonnaise: | |
| 90ml | vegan mayonnaise |
| 1 tbsp | dried jerk seasoning |
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.
To make the mago avocado salsa, place the mango and avocado in a bowl with the red onion, chilli, olive oil, lime juice and coriander and mix to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then cover the bowl with a plate and leave to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes to let the flavours blend before serving.
To make the fried plantains, cut both ends off each plantain, then use a sharp knife to cut a shallow slit down the length of the plantain and remove the skin. Slice each plantain into thick pieces on the diagonal. Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a medium–high heat. Add the plantain pieces and fry on each side for about 5 minutes until they are soft and golden brown all over. Sprinkle with salt
For the jerk barbecue mushrooms, mix together the oyster mushrooms with the olive oil and half the jerk barbecue sauce in a bowl until the mushrooms are well coated.
Place the sauce-coated mushrooms on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, toss the mushrooms, add the rest of the jerk barbecue sauce and then bake for another 20 minutes. Because of the sugar in the jerk sauce, keep an eye on the mushrooms to ensure they don’t burn, reducing the heat if necessary.
Meanwhile, mix the mayonnaise with the jerk seasoning.
Fill each of the tacos with some of the sliced red cabbage, mango avocado salsa, fried plantains, jerk mayonnaise and jerk barbecue mushrooms, sprinkle over some lime juice, coriander, spring onions and chillies and then fold up to serve.
