Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa (Recipe)

How I love shrimp...let me count the ways. My latest experimentation resulted in two very happy stomachs. Rather than regular corn or flour tortillas, I opted for lettuce. I've also been on a bit of a spicy kick lately and worked that into the recipe as well. Here's what I did.

I started off making a spicy rice pilaf. I don't really want to call it Spanish rice, although that was the original starting point. I poured about 1 tbsp. olive oil into a medium pot, the one I normally use to cook rice. I put it over medium heat and added 1 cup of white rice and toasted it, stirring constantly, until they were no longer opaque, brightly white and exhibiting a nutty aroma. I then added 1 1/3 cup chicken stock, 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice, 1 tsp. harrisa, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1/2 tsp. coriander, 1/2 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. ground ginger, 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper. Once the stock started bubbling, I turned the heat to low, put the cover on and cooked the rice for 20 minutes. Then I took the rice off the heat, leaving the lid on, and set it aside.

While the rice was cooking, I took about 1 pound of jumbo (20-25 size) shrimp and peeled, deveined, rinsed and patted them dry. I put them in a bowl and added 3 tbsp. good tequila, 3 tbsp. fresh lime juice, 1 tsp. chili flakes, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. onion powder, 1/2 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. ground ginger, 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper and tossed them with my hand to coat. I set that aside while I prepared the salsa.

Into a medium sized bowl I added 1 diced ripe mango, 1 diced roma tomato, 2 finely diced Serrano peppers (I removed the seeds), 1 tbsp. fresh lime juice and a small handful of roughly chopped fresh cilantro and mixed with a spoon.

Once all that was done, I poured all the contents of the shrimp bowl into a medium saute pan over medium heat and cooked them until they were no longer opaque and the liquid reduced about 1/3. Then it was time to assemble and eat.

I took the leaves of a baby romaine lettuce (although I'm sure any other lettuce would work as well), and layered rice, shrimp and mango salsa. The end result had a spicy kick with the cool crunch of the lettuce, the snap of the shrimp and the sweetness of the mangoes. Needless to say, it was delicious. All that work and it was gone in maybe 10 minutes!

Darda--Newark (Chinese Muslim cuisine)

Living more than 20 miles from Oakland Chinatown, good Chinese food is not necessarily at my fingertips. Since I am Chinese, I'm a bit snooty about what kind of Chinese food I want to eat. There are many Chinese food joints in the Fremont area, but not all are created equal. It also makes me sad to realize so many people still don't know what real Chinese food is. It doesn't help that Chinese fast food is so popular and everywhere. But Panda Express is not Chinese food. Orange chicken is not Chinese food.

If you are interested in eating real Chinese food, a good rule of thumb is, if you can't pronounce the name of the restaurant, and there are only Chinese people eating in it, then that's probably real Chinese food they are serving. If you don't know what to order, there is no shame in looking around and pointing to other people's dishes. Here is one gem of a place with some super delicious and authentic Chinese food. But if you are not that adventurous, they have Orange chicken as well.

Darda, located at 34755 Ardenwood Blvd in Newark, is a Muslim Chinese restaurant. One might raise an eyebrow at the mention of Muslim Chinese. Basically, many people from Northern China, near Mongolia, are Muslim. The main difference in the food, is they don't eat pork and their specialty is hand-made noodles. Yum.

During this particular visit, we started off with the Sesame Bread with Green Onion (thin). A thicker version is available as well and is equally scrumptious. The one thing I love about this bread is it's a bit crisp on the outside and soft and chewy and the inside. The cooked green onion gives it a nice savory sweetness and the toasted sesame seeds give it a nutty aroma.

Since hand-made noodles are their specialty, I had to try it. I'm also a noodle lover (I think I've mentioned that in previous posts). Below is their Ox Tail Noodle Soup. The noodles are hand cut so they're not equal in size. Some are thicker than others, which gives you a lot of variety in textures. Some strands can be softer than others, but all is wonderful. The ox tails were tender, and the broth was beefy and satisfying.

For the more adventurous types, the Beef & Ox-tendon with Brown Sauce is a great choice. I love tendon (cartilage). It has a chewy, gelatin-like texture that I find very pleasing. It also tastes like whatever sauce you cook it in so it's very versatile. This dish is one of my favorites anywhere as far as tendon goes. The tendon didn't have any hard bits in it and the beef was very tender.

For veggie lovers, the sauteed Snow Pea shoots is excellent. This particular dish was ordered off the menu (yes, you can do that at real Chinese restaurants). We just asked what fresh vegetables they had that day and this was what they offered. These shoots were lightly cooked with garlic. Still crunchy but also tender, this was one of those really simple but really wonderful dishes.

Pictured below is a partially eaten portion of the Hot Spicy Fish. This is probably one of the most well-prepared fish dishes I've ever had. There is some work involved to get to the fish but it's worth it. The dish comes to the table covered with chili peppers and chili oil. You have to use a ladle to scoop off the peppers and the chili oil. Then what's left is perfectly tender and seasoned fish with an amazing broth. Yes, it is spicy, but the heat does not overpower the flavor. A great way to enjoy the broth is to dip your Sesame Green Onion Bread into the broth or mix it into some steamed rice.

So if you're around the Newark area and you want to try something wonderful, that also happens to be Chinese, feel free to stop by Darda.