Corn fritter tacos with pickled slaw
These veggie tacos pack a flavour punch with a pickled slaw, coconutty corn purée and a fresh green mayo all topped with crispy corn fritters. There a quite a few elements to this recipe, but most can be made ahead so it's great for entertaining.
Ingredients
For the pickled leek slaw
- 1 litre/1¾ pint distilled white vinegar
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ Scotch bonnet chilli, deseeded
- ½ garlic bulb
- 5cm/2in piece fresh root ginger, smashed using a rolling pin or meat tenderiser
- 1 tbsp allspice berries
- 1 tbsp salt
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 5 thyme sprigs
- 200g/7oz white cabbage, thinly shredded
- 1 leek, thinly sliced
For the coconut corn purée
- 300²µ/10½´Ç³ú sweetcorn
- 200ml/7oz coconut milk
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp lime juice
For the sweetcorn fritters
- 100g/3½oz tinned sweetcorn, drained weight
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- 20g/¾oz finely chopped mixed red and green peppers
- 40²µ/1½´Ç³ú self-raising flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp cornflour
- 1 tbsp green seasoning
- 30g/1oz mixed coriander and parsley, chopped
- 1 tsp all-purpose seasoning
- 1litre/1¾ pints neutral oil, such as rapeseed or vegetable oil for deep-frying
For the green mayo
- 150²µ/5½´Ç³ú mayonnaise
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú green seasoning
To serve
- 7 soft corn tortillas, warmed
Method
For the pickled leeks, put all the ingredients – except the leeks and cabbage – in a pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Once cooled, pass the pickle liquid through a sieve into a container or jar and add the leeks and cabbage. Let it sit for at least 2 hours.
For the coconut corn purée, heat a dry frying pan and add the sweetcorn and toast until slightly charred.
Tip into a blender and add the remaining ingredients. Blend until silky smooth. Set aside.
For the fritters, combine all the ingredients, except the oil, in a bowl. Stir in 50ml/2fl oz water and mix thoroughly. The mixture should have a spoonable consistency – if it seems too wet, add a little more flour.
Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer or a deep heavy-based saucepan. To test if the oil is hot enough, drop in a cube of white bread. If it bubbles straight away and goes golden-brown the oil is ready for frying.
Take a dessert spoon and gently lower spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil – be careful not to drop the mixture in - lower it gently! (You may need a second spoon to push the mixture off the first spoon.) The recipe makes about 14 fritters, so depending on the size of your pan, you may need to cook the fritters in a few batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. The fritters should take around 4 minutes to cook. Use a long-handled metal, slotted spoon to turn them a little in the oil. When they are golden-brown all over, remove the fritters from the pan and transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain.
For the green mayo, mix the mayonaise and green seasoning together in a bowl. Set aside.
To serve, spread some corn purée in the middle of a corn tortilla. Top with two fritters, some pickled leek slaw and green mayo. Repeat to fill the remaining tortillas.