Lemongrass Chicken Soft Tacos

In my quest to create delicious Asian Fusion appetizers, I married Asian and Latin flavors for this Lemongrass Chicken Soft Tacos. It really is mind boggling how many ingredients the Asian and South American regions have in common, which explains why marrying some of their more unique and proprietary flavors results in a beautiful explosion of food porn. These are pretty messy to eat but damn they’re good.

Makes 4 small tacos

Ingredients

4 small tortillas

8 cloves garlic roughly chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb ground chicken

1 ½ tablespoons lemongrass, finely minced

2/3 tablespoon fish sauce

1 ½ tablespoons lime juice (~1/2 large lime)

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground red chili peppers (optional)

1 cup grated cheese (choose your favorite cheese-Monterey Jack, cheddar, parmesan)

½ large red onion, thinly sliced

Cilantro for garnish

Tomato, diced for garnish

Sea salt for sprinkling

Method

In a wok or pan, heat the olive oil on high heat. Sauté the garlic for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant and lightly browned. Add the chicken and lemongrass, stir-frying for 5 to 8 minutes until thoroughly cooked and lightly golden. Place chicken in a large mixing bowl and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.

Add the fish sauce, lime juice, cumin and ground red chili peppers if using. Toss together with the chicken until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the tortillas on the baking sheet making sure there is some space between them. Spread the grated cheese evenly over the 4 tortillas. Heat in the oven for just about 10 minutes or so until the cheese is completely melted.

Place the warm tortillas on a large flat surface or directly on a large serving platter. Make sure there is room to assemble the soft tacos. Spoon the chicken mixture onto the center of each tortilla in a line. Then garnish with the sliced red onion, cilantro and diced tomato. Finally, sprinkle just a bit of sea salt on top. Bring the sides of the tortilla together to form the taco shape and line a few next to each other to hold their shape. Serve immediately.