A Taste of Disney: Tacos de Camarones

Alex is a self-proclaimed Disney expert who enjoys expanding her culinary skills in her free time.

Getting Started

These are the real deal. Anyone who has been to Epcot Center at Disney World knows that sometimes people don't enjoy their favorite dishes there. Why? Because the restaurants at Epcot's World Showcase serve the authentic cuisine, not the Americanized versions that most people are used to.

La Hacienda de San Angel is one of the newest restaurants at the World Showcase, and it has become one of the most popular. It is located on the World Showcase Lagoon at the Mexico Pavilion, and it serves some of the best food Mexico has to offer. The shrimp taco recipe I'd like to share here is from this restaurant. And I can tell you this, they are better than anything you will find at an Americanized "Tex-Mex" restaurant.

When planning our weekly grocery trip, I picked up one of my Disney cookbooks and started flipping through the pages. I wanted inspiration for a quick and easy dinner. I came across this recipe in Kitchen Magic with Mickey, and I knew that it would be a hit. I picked a night for the meal and picked up the ingredients. I was really excited to try it out as it would be something outside my comfort zone. Not to mention that it would bring a little of the Disney magic to an ordinary weeknight dinner.

Cook Time

Ingredients

• 10 tortillas
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 1 egg white
• 1/3 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 cups cabbage, shredded
• Vegetable oil
• Salsa verde

You can see all the spices in the batter, the shrimp were very easy to cover.

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Instructions

1. First, make the chipotle mayo. Simply mix the chipotle peppers in the adobo sauce with the mayonnaise. The original recipe calls for the chipotle peppers to be pureed before they are mixed with the mayonnaise, but I left them whole. Chill the chipotle mayo until ready to use.
2. Get a large-walled pot or deep fryer and fill with 2 inches of the vegetable oil. Heat the oil to 375 degrees.
3. While the oil is heating, make the batter for the shrimp. Mix together the flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, salt, parsley, paprika, baking powder, and baking soda.
4. Beat the egg white until frothy. Then mix the egg white and water with seasoned flour mixture. Combine until smooth.
5. If the shrimp is not already peeled and deveined, do so now.
6. Add the shrimp to the batter and make sure they are well covered.
7. In groups of about 6, add the shrimp to the hot oil. Make sure to be careful as the oil can splatter and burn. Do not add too many shrimp to the oil at once as it will drop the temperature of the oil. Cook for about 2–3 minutes.
8. Continue cooking the shrimp in batches until they are all done. Draining the shrimp on a plate with a paper towel will help remove some of the grease.
9. Spread about 1 tablespoon of the chipotle mayo on a tortilla. Top with shrimp, shredded cabbage, and drizzle the desired amount of salsa verde.

The chipotle mayo has such a nice pink color. You can smell the spices and heat when you spread it on the tortilla.

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Possible Substitutions and Additions

I did add a little onion powder to my flour mixture. I usually live by a rule that if I add garlic powder I need to add onion powder, as well. I also kind of eyeballed most of my spices, they are just so hard to measure out sometimes. I also use a smoked paprika when I use paprika. I feel like it brings a bit more warmth to my cooking.

The original recipe called for red cabbage, but the grocery store didn't have any the first time I made these tacos. To be honest, I wasn't too sure what the difference between the two is, besides the color, so I just got a green cabbage. I have made them with both green and red cabbage and I can't taste a difference, but I did like the contrast on the plate with the red cabbage.

I also used canola oil instead of vegetable oil the first few times I made these tacos. I think any light, relatively flavorless oil would work well for this recipe. However, we recently have started to become more conscious of the oils used in cooking. We've swapped out canola and vegetable oil for coconut oil due to the large amount of omega-6s in canola and vegetable oil. (As a side note there is research indicating that a diet high in omega-6s as opposed to omega-3s can cause an increase in inflammation in the body. Since removing these oils from my diet I have felt overall healthier. Maybe its just a placebo effect, but I'm happy and that's really all that matters.) I had been hesitant to fry shrimp in coconut oil as I didn't want these shrimp to taste coconut-ty. They didn't! I needed to use an entire jar but the coconut oil worked beautifully. I was also very happy that the shrimp were not oily after they dried.

My local grocery store has a large variety of international items. I found canned chipotle peppers in adobos sauce paste on my last visit. I decided to try the paste instead of the canned whole peppers in sauce, since I mainly wasted the peppers and just used the sauce. The paste had a consistency of gritty tomato paste and it mixed very well with the mayonnaise. The effect it had on the dish was noticeable. There was more heat, more warmth, and the spice lingered on the tongue for a little while. I'd use the paste again, but increase the amount of mayonnaise to try to bring down the heat a little. It had a great texture and I think it would be fantastic on sandwiches.

These tacos also pair wonderfully with a soft cheese. A little goes a long way. I liked them with a little goat cheese, but that is a bit of an acquired taste. My boyfriend preferred them without cheese. Each pallet is different.

My Review

This meal came together much faster than I had anticipated. It looks like it would take a long time as there are a lot of spices to add to the batter mixture which makes the ingredients list a little intimidating, but it really isn't that involved overall. The shrimp cook quickly, the chipotle mayo is simple, and putting together the tacos is a matter of personal preference.

Both my boyfriend and I were very happy with out dinner. We both agreed that this recipe will be added to our regular rotation. It tastes like something you have to get at a restaurant, but can be easily be made at home. The shrimp did reheat well the next day too! They were a bit soggy, but the flavors were still as potent so it was fine. I was very happy with dinner, and pleased that I was able to take a step out of my comfort zone in the kitchen.

© 2018 Alex