Caribbean food is full of flavor, but also full of spice – a sensitive stomach white girl’s nightmare! I decided to make these jerk tofu tacos with mango slaw from Marley Kitchen / Cedella Marley to see what would happen.
After chopping up a habanero and touching my face, which stung for 2.5 hours, I thought the worst was over. Not so. The next day, 16 hours and 30 hand washes later, I put my contacts in my eyes. BAD. IDEA. I thought I was blind.
Anyway, these tacos are delicious. Worth the extreme pain? Not so sure. But delicious nonetheless. And if you take out the habanero after marinating and before cooking, like I did, they become a LOT less spicy (albeit still really spicy).
You’ll need:
- 4 white corn tortillas
- 1 brick extra firm tofu
- 1/2 oz cilantro
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 inch fresh ginger
- 1 habanero pepper
- 2 limes
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp tamari soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 mango
- 2 oz red cabbage
- 2 oz green cabbage
- Sour cream (if not vegan)
Instructions:
- Drain the tofu and pat dry with paper towels, squeezing out all excess moisture.
- Finely chop or grate with a microplane the garlic and ginger. Place in a medium bowl.
- Remove the stem, pith and seeds from the habanero. Finely chop. (Do not touch your face!). Add to the bowl.
- Juice 1 lime into the bowl. Add allspice, Tamara, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Mix together until combined.
- Crumble the tofu into pearl-sized pieces into the bowl. Mix with marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Finely chop cilantro. Add half to another medium bowl.
- Chop half the mango into matchsticks, add to bowl.
- Add the red cabbage, green cabbage and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper to the bowl.
- Juice half the remaining lime into the bowl. Toss until well combined. Slice the other lime half into wedges for plating.
- Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a medium nonstick pan and bring to high heat. Cook the tofu in a single layer for 3 minutes undisturbed.
- Stir tofu, cook for another 4 minutes.
- In a small pan on high heat, warm the tortillas.
- Place warm tortillas on plate. Top with tofu mixture, mango coleslaw and sour cream. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.
Source: Cedella Marley