Crispy Avocado

After my previous misadventure with deep frying, I thought I'd give it another go and strike while the pot was still charred, so to speak. But what was I going to deep fry? A friend of mine was telling me all about La Carnita, a fairly new taco joint in Toronto that does a mean fried avocado. This sounded pretty perfect to me - the deliciously fatty avocado would taste great rolling in crispy batter. I decided to change it up and go for more of a tempura-inspired batter, with a little more spice in the mix. I meant to throw some sugar into the batter, but forgot. Definitely something I'll try next time.

For toppings I whipped up a quick chipotle sauce and paired it with my Pico de Gallo. You've got your fried, you've got your spicy, you've got your fresh and there you have the facts of life.

Photos from Katie Tower

Crispy Avocado Recipe

Serves: 12 tacos                Prep time: 10 min                Cook time: 3 min

1 avocado

1/2 cup flour

1/8 cup rice vinegar

3/4 cup water

1 tsp paprika 
1 tsp kosher salt

Chipotle Sauce

2 chipotle pepper

2 tsp adobo sauce

3 tbsp mayonaise 

Corn tortilla

Pico de Gallo

Cotija cheese (or feta) 

           

Oil Yourself Up

(You may recognize these directions from the Baja Fish) Fill a pan with vegetable oil about 1/2 inch deep. Pre-heat to 350 degrees F. If you don't have a thermometer to check the temperature, you can just stick the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil. If bubbles appear on the surface of the spoon, you should be good to go.

Avocado Batter Up

Cut avocado into 12 long slices. In a bowl, whisk together flour, rice vinegar, water and paprika. Coat the avocado slices in the batter and place them into the hot oil. Turn after about 1.5 minute (or when you can see the batter getting golden on the bottom) and cook for another 1 min on the other side. Remove and place on a paper towel lined plate. 

Serve it Up

Finely chop a chipotle pepper, then mix together in a bowl with adobo sauce and mayonnaise. Transfer to a piping bag or squirt bottle if you want it to look nice on the taco. Pile pico de gallo and an avocado onto a warm tortilla. Top with chipotle sauce and cheese.