Japanese tacos

Discover Chef Alexis Luong's Japanese-style tacos for a new take on fajita nights.

This recipe by Alexis Luong, chef at Onaka restaurant in Nice, is taken from the 2024 edition ofLivre 109: Le sang neuf de la gastronomie française. Discover the ingredients and preparation steps to make it a breeze.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 35 min
Cooking time : 15 min
Resting time: 30 min

Ingredients forJapanese tacos

For the gyoza

250 g T55 flour
½ tsp. salt
Cornstarch for rolling out the dough
Frying oil

For the filling

400 g salmon fillet (or 400 g rump steak)
2 white onions
2 red onions
Sweet soy sauce
2 tbsp. salted soy sauce
1 clove garlic
4 green jalapeños
200 g cherry tomatoes
2 limes
6 cl liquid yuzu kosho
2 pinches shichimi (7 Japanese spices)
5 g fresh coriander shoots or leaves
5 g mint
1 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper

Steps for Japanese tacos

Prepare the gyoza dough: sift the flour, then add the salt. Stir in 10 cl warm water. Mix with a maryse (or chopsticks). Gradually add warm water (about 5 cl). Finish kneading the dough, milling for around 10 min, until you obtain a smooth, homogeneous ball. Set aside in a covered container for 30 min.
Flour the work surface with cornstarch, then divide the ball into 2 (or 4, depending on the work surface). Form two rolls about 2 cm wide, then cut evenly into cubes. Roll out again to a thickness of 1 mm. Cut out circles with a cookie cutter (6 cm diameter). Add a little cornstarch between each sheet to prevent them from sticking together.
Heat the frying oil in a Dutch oven to 180°C, then plunge the pasta in one at a time (or two at a time, depending on the size of your deep fryer) for 1 min, turning regularly. Drain with paper towels.
Prepare the filling: cut the salmon (or beef) into 2 cm cubes. Mix with the diced white onions, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Finely slice the red onions and set aside.
Mound the tomatoes and grill the jalapeños with a blowtorch (or oven broiler) to give them a smoky flavor and make them easy to peel. Remove the seeds and finely dice the jalapeños and tomatoes, then set aside.
Squeeze the lime juice over the tomatoes and jalapeños, add the yuzu kosho, salted soy sauce, shichimi, grated garlic, olive oil, chopped mint and coriander.
Quickly pan-fry the salmon (or beef) in olive oil over high heat. Deglaze the cooking juices with the sweet soy sauce to give a caramelized, coated finish.
Arrange the fried gyozas on a plate, add the salmon (or beef) and pour the sauce over them. Sprinkle with slices of red onion and fresh coriander.

For further information

Onaka, 12 passage Masséna, 06000 Nice
13/20 in the Livre des 109
Read Gault&Millau's review of Onaka

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