Vegan “Chicken” and Corn Taquitos

Kip — Wed, 05 May 2010 18:05:14 +0000

The taquito is a dish well known in my native United States, a fried treat brought over the border by a culture which arguably produces some of the greatest tasting food on the planet. This popular Mexican dish consists of maize (corn) tortillas tightly wrapped around a filling and fried, the process resulting in a crispy package of any number of awesome fillings.

I sure do use the word “awesome” a lot, don’t I?

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

This month marks the release of Terry Hope Romero’s much anticipated Viva Vegan! I am just dying for this book. An American expat misses Latin American food more than, well, more than a great analogy I can’t think of (suggestions are welcome). The thought of getting my grubby mits on what rumour is saying is quite the fabulous book has left me desperate for something South of the border in flavour, and these vegan taquitos are the result.

I’ve been sitting on this for a week or two, but seeing as it’s the 5th of May it seems an appropriate time to share.

It’s good. Really good. I ate them for breakfast the day I made them.

Mexican Food in the UK

Londoners searching for corn tortillas (and other goodies like corn husks) should look no further than the Cool Chile Company for authentic Mexican ingredients. And no, those Old El Paso yellow things don’t count.

Taquito making, by picture

Softening the corn tortillas

Wrapping and pinning the tortillas

Frying the taquitos

Mock Chicken and Corn Taquitos

Makes around 20 taquitos

Ingredients
- 18-22 corn tortillas, for frying
- Toothpicks, for binding taquitos
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Enough canola/rapeseed or peanut/groundnut oil for minimum 1/2 inch depth in your frying vessel
- 70g (1/2 cup) frozen corn
- 1 heaped cup thinly sliced vegan chicken
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1/2 cup packed vegan cheese
- 2 cloves garlic
- juice of one lime (around 1 tbsp)
- 1 tsp chili seasoning powder
- 3/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/8 tsp chipotle chili powder
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- Vegan yoghurt
- Salsa
- Shredded lettuce
- salt, to taste

Directions/Method
1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, frying the onion over medium heat for 5 minutes (or until lightly browned), stirring often. Add the garlic, oregano, and spices. Cook another minute until fragrant and then add the corn plus 2 tablespoons of water and the tomato paste.
2. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is fairly dry, about 5 minutes. Add the lime juice and cook a minute or two before removing from the heat.
3. Heat oil to fry to around 175° C (350° F) in a large skillet or wok.
4. To assmble the taquitos you must first make the corn tortillas pliable by heating them on a skillet for a few seconds on each side. Place somewhere in the vicinity of a couple of tablespoons of filling toward the far edge of a tortilla, ensuring it’s not too close to the edges (else it’ll fall out when fried). Roll the tortillas tightly and place a toothpick through the centre to hold.
5. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. You should be able to fit two or three taquitos per toothpick.
6. Carefully lower a toothpick’s worth of taquitos into the oil. If there’s not enough oil to cover them, that’s okay. After a minute, carefully turn them over and fry for one more minute. Remove with a slotted spoon or tongs, draining as much oil away as possible before setting them on a wire wrack or paper towels.
7. Continue until all taquitos are fried. Serve garnished with soya yoghurt (a great sour cream alternative), lettuce, and tomato salsa.

Balsamic Smoked Tomato Salsa

Kip — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 10:58:38 +0000

When my youngest step-son requested a Mexican meal for his birthday dinner, I decided to experiment with some old favourites. I urge everyone to understand that “Mexican” to an average American pretty much entails any recipe involving cheese and a tortilla, so I hardly consider my style to be authentic in any way. Like I tell the boys: were I cooking true Mexican food for them, they wouldn’t be able to cope with the heat. Hence I’ll just stick with the good fall back of “Southwestern style” cooking, as I think that’s probably a more appropriate title for the type of food I would generally categorise as “Mexican.”

Along with enchiladas (“my favourite thing you do,” as said by my eldest step-son), I decided to make some accompanying sides. Rather than the mild, flavourless store-bought salsas, I decided to experiment with my own tomato-based goodness. I made this the day before, so it had a good 24 hours to sit and let the flavours infuse. On the day it was a hit, and I’ll certainly be making it to accompany future “Mexican” meals.

Balsamic Smoked Tomato Salsa

Ingredients
- 3 tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 purple onion, diced
- handul of coriander/cilantro
- Juice of 1 small lime
- 1 TBSP liquid smoke
- 1-2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- salt, to taste

Directions/Method
1. Chop up the ingredients and throw them together. I used a fairly generous amount of coriander, but that’s up to you. Try experimenting with the amounts of both onion and garlic to attain your perfect salsa-riffic texture and flavour.
2. If you have time, cover the salsa and plop it in the fridge for several hours (as mentioned, I left mine for an entire day). It isn’t, however, going to ruin your salsa if you don’t have time to leave it forever. Just remember that strong elements like the garlic may be overpowering if served immediately, so perhaps eliminate this ingredient if you don’t have time to let it sit for an hour or two?

The Messy Vegetarian Cook » Mexican

Vegan “Chicken” and Corn Taquitos

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Mexican Food in the UK

Taquito making, by picture

Mock Chicken and Corn Taquitos

Balsamic Smoked Tomato Salsa

Balsamic Smoked Tomato Salsa