Shrimp Tempura Tacos

TGIF!  That's what I screamed when I woke up this morning.  Well, not literally, but just inside of my head.  But seriously.  Thank. Goodness. It's. Friday.

Definitely have a good weekend lined up.  It's the birthday weekend of a couple pharmacists I know, so we're going out for sushi tomorrow night.  Pretty amped about that because I could use a good meal of sushi right about now!

And I've decided to do something pretty cool here soon.  I've decided to kind of expand my "culinary abilities" and recreate dishes that I've had at restaurants.  I know... nothing new.  People do that all the time.  But I'm going to combine restaurant reviews and meals I've eaten and compare them to what I actually make at home.  Kind of like a side-by-side comparison of sorts.  Don't get it?  Well... the first post will be sometime in the next couple of weeks, and maybe it will be clearer then.

Anyway, this recipe was kind of an evolution of an idea really.  I had set out to make some shrimp ceviche, but then wanted tacos.  So shrimp ceviche tacos sounded pretty good.  Then I opened up the pantry and saw some tempura mix, and it was on.  Shrimp.  Tempura.  Tacos.  Oh yeah.

Oh, and don't forget this week's dessert poll at the end of the post!!


Ingredients:   

1 lb. frozen shrimp, defrosted
2 cups tempura batter
vegetable oil for frying
1 english cucumber, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 tomato, seeded and diced
small handful cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
corn tortillas, warmed
shredded cheddar cheese, optional
rice and salsa, for serving

In a large bowl, combine shrimp and tempura batter.  (A lot of Asian markets cell tempura batter mix and it's pretty easy... mine was a "just add water" kind of thing and tastes pretty great)  And of course, you could always make up your own tempura mix, but I had the pre-made stuff handy, so that's what I used.  Let sit for about 3-5 minutes.

In a heavy, deep pan or pot, heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil.  You know it's hot enough when you add a little bit of the tempura batter and it sizzles.

Add shrimp and cook for about 1-2 minutes per side, or until the tempura is crispy and golden brown.

Transfer to a paper towel-lined bowl and sprinkle with a little bit of salt and pepper.


In a small bowl, combine the cucumber, tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, salt, and pepper.  Mix well.

To assemble tacos, place a thin layer of shredded cheese on each tortilla, then add a few shrimp (about 3-4 per taco), and top with cucumber/tomato salsa.

We served the tacos with some rice (which I basically just cooked in the rice cooker and added about a 1/2-3/4 cup of salsa to and mixed).

This made for a great impromptu taco.  The flavors were fresh and I loved the contrast of the fried tempura shrimp and the delicate salsa.  Definitely a winner in my book!

Have a great weekend guys!


And for the poll this week, I'm feeling like I want to make some cheesecake... so here's some flavors (don't know if some of them actually exist... but hey... I will make it happen if it wins!)

Sushi Extravaganza

I'm baaaaaaack! Vacation was pretty awesome. It was exactly what I needed. Until I got back to work again. It's funny how having to come back to the real world really bites. I wish I could just live one of those glorious lives where I could travel the globe and not lift a finger. But I guess maybe even that would become habitual and boring in time. Nonetheless... I'm back and ready to cook! I thought this sushi was pretty excellent, and if it wasn't so convenient to have others make this for me, I think I would do this myself all the time. I definitely recommend sushi-making at home, at least once, just for the experience... because it's definitely not as hard as you think!

Ingredients:

Basmati or some other kind of "sticky" rice
Seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 lb. lobster meat (or imitation)
1 package nori
1/2 cucumber, julienned
1 carrot, peeled and julienned
soy sauce
tempura batter
oil for frying

Alright, first cook your rice. I had two different types so that I could compare the two. First, I bought a prepackaged "steam for 1 minute in the microwave" kind of rice. Then I cooked about 1 cup of basmati rice, adding a little bit more water than recommended to kind of get the rice at that "sticky" texture. Separate each rice and add your desired amount of rice vinegar to each pile. Mix well.

Go ahead and heat up your frying oil. Kind of cut the lobster meat into chunks and dip them into the tempura batter. Let sit for 3 minutes and then coat a second time with the batter and allow to sit for a few more minutes.

Fry the batter lobster chunks until you get a nice golden brown color, maybe about 5-7 minutes.

Lay out your bamboo sushi mat and place a piece of plastic wrap over it to cover. For a normal roll (nori on the outside, rice on the inside), place nori sheet on top of sushi mat. Cover nori with rice and add desired fillings. I added in lobster, carrots, and cucumber... but that's what's great about sushi, it's versatile... you can practically put anything you want in there!


For an alternative roll, an inside out roll (where the rice is on the outside and nori on the inside), just place the rice on the plastic wrap to cover top with nori. Then add fillings.


Ok, once you've got your filling and roll planned out, gently pick up mat from end closest to you and roll. Tighten mat to tighten roll. Sometimes explaining this isn't as good as a visual aid. So check out this site for a more detailed description... How To Roll Sushi.

You can decorate the rolls as you please, I just chose to drizzle some Sriracha and top with tempura flakes and black sesame seeds. Serve with soy sauce and eat with chop sticks!

This was just great! Not only was it visually stunning, it was just as delicious as it looked! Two large rolls and we were both full and happy. I definitely think the "sticky" packaged rice was easier to roll with. The basmati kind of fell apart a little (I used that one for the inside out roll, you can kind of tell it was coming apart there in the picture, but delicious nonetheless!) Enjoy!