Japanese tacos

3/29/24, 8:30 AM

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

These recipes might interest you

Easy

Roast vegetables with seaweed

In his recipe, chef Alexandre L'Horphelin roasts leeks, cabbage, artichoke bottoms and spinach in nori leaves and accompanies them with a Jerusalem artichoke sauce.

Read

Easy

Marinated salmon with beet pulp

Two marinades are required for this recipe by chef Luc Trochon: one for the salmon and one for the beets, using pepper, pink berries, coriander seeds and sesame oil.

Read

Lemon tea cake

An exceptional pastry chef, Eddie Benghanem has been officiating for some fifteen years at the Gordon Ramsay restaurant in the majestic Waldorf Astoria Versailles - Trianon Palace. Taken from his recipe book published in 2024, this cake recipe blends the flavors of lemon and tea.

Read

Easy

Chicken & quince, gochujang-kimchi condiment

In his poultry recipe, chef Martin Maumet cooks the chicken in a casserole dish and accompanies it with pumpkin, spinach and leeks, as well as two condiments: quince and gochujang-kimchi.

Read

Intermediate

Pavlova with Périgord walnuts

An iconic dessert of meringue, whipped cream and fruit, chef Malo Tual (Le Pétrocore, Périgueux) shares his recipe for walnut pavlova.

Read

Easy

Pierogi

Although Maxime Szczepaniak's cuisine is above all French, it is also marked by his Polish and Vietnamese origins, as in the case of pierogi, a Polish specialty for which he shares the recipe.

Read