Crispy Tuna Poke Tacos with Crunchy Furikake Cucumber

Crispy, crunchy, coastal, Hawaiian poke-style tacos are the best thing ever. They’re a cute bite-sized appetizer to make for dinner parties — or just parties.

The hardshell is made from gyoza wrappers, though you could use wonton wrappers, too. They crisp and bubble up when fried in hot oil, then form a folded “taco” shape by gently folding one half over the other with tongs/ kitchen tweezers.

There is Japanese and Hawaiian influence in these crispy tuna poke tacos. Poke bowls originate from Hawaii, they are typically made with raw tuna or raw salmon, paired with rice and flavored with ponzu, soy sauce and seaweed. Tuna poke tacos are massively influenced by poke bowls, so I would say they are probably originally from Hawaii, too!

Furikake is a Japanese seasoning made of salt, sugar, seaweed and toasted sesame seeds. It can vary with it’s ingredients but it is very delicious sprinkled over Japanese food and in this case — as a method to season our crunchy cucumber and radish topping. I add lime juice and the taste is perfect. Slightly sweet and salty with notes of deep umami.

I’ve seen tuna poke tacos before in restaurants and events, they’re a perfect bite size snack to serve as canapés.

You can fry the gyoza/wonton wrappers a couple of hours ahead of time — though I wouldn’t go too far ahead. They can become stale after a few hours. As always, fresh is best.

Ingredients: (makes 12 tacos)

Poke Tuna:

300g sashimi grade tuna, raw, cubed

1/2 a white onion, diced

1 tbsp ponzu

1/2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

zest of 1 lime

Crispy Shells:

Fresh gyoza/wonton wrappers

Neutral oil for frying, such as Vegetable Oil or Canola Oil

flakey salt

Crunchy Furikake Cucumber:

1 cucumber, diced

1 radish, diced

handful of coriander/cilantro, roughly chopped

1 tbsp furikake

juice of 1/2 a lime

Garnishes:

kewpie mayonnaise

pickled ginger

avocado, sliced

microgreens

Method:

Fry the crispy shells first. In a small/medium frying pan, pour enough oil to cover 1-2 inches of the pan. Heat over medium heat until it reaches at least 365F. If you don’t have a thermometer, just wait 5 minutes or so and test the heat with a gyoza wrapper and see if it starts to bubble.

The method to making the shells is this — lay flat into oil. Allow it to bubble and turn a light golden color on one side. Using your tongs/ kitchen tweezers, flip the wrapper on it’s other side and gently fold over half. Keep it relatively open, don’t fold over too much that it will fry shut. Fry on this half for about 30 seconds, or until bubbly and golden brown and fry on the other half for another 30 seconds. At this point it should be the shape you want and fried to a golden crunch. Leave to crisp up on a baking sheet with a cooling rack to ventilate or a paper towel lined plate. Salt immediately.

To make the tuna poke: slice tuna into cubes and combine with diced onion and the remaining poke ingredients. Set aside while we prepare the rest.

Combine the crunchy furikake cucumber ingredients together and leave to the side.

To prepare the tacos, add a spoonful of tuna into the taco, a drizzle of kewpie, then furikake cucumber, avocado, pickled ginger and microgreens.

Enjoy straight away.