Smoked Salmon Tacos with Chipotle Cream Sauce and Mango-Lime Slaw

Hey Sons,

You both have been raised on many different types of tacos; in fact I think it is safe to say that there has never been a month in your lives where you have not eaten some type of Mexican food at least once. When I was a girl it was different though. I lived in BC Canada – we did not eat Mexican food!

I remember the very first time my mother made us this new food she called ‘Tacos’ (she had found the recipe in a magazine I think). They were simply made, ground beef with a little chili powder, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, grated cheddar cheese and sour cream all layered on these new things call “hard corn taco shells”.

Honestly I do not remember my Granny ever making any type of Mexican food. She was an adventurous cook though and I am sure that she must have.  Her adventurous kitchen spirit was passed on to me and I am grateful for that! Since the humble beginnings of that first taco I have experiment with many different taco recipes! This is one of our family favorites.

This should be a familiar dish to you both, so here is the recipe in case you want to make it!

Love YOU!

Smoked Salmon Tacos with Chipotle Cream Sauce and Mango-Lime Slaw

Juicy salmon tacos on soft flour shells topped with a zippy mango slaw and a creamy, spicy sauce.

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 7 hours hrs

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 6 People

Ingredients

  

Brine For Salmon

• 4 cups water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 2 pounds salmon I use boneless and skinless salmon

Mango-Lime Slaw

• 1 medium sized mango pick one that is still quite firm
• 1/2 medium sized carrot shredded
• 1 1/2 cups green cabbage shredded
• 2 green onions sliced thin and long. Include the white part
• 2 tbsp cilantro rough chopped
• 1 large jalepeno Seeds removed. Very thinly sliced into strips.
• 2 limes zest and juice
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Salt and Pepper To taste

Chipotle Cream Sauce

• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 limes Zest and Juice
• 2 whole chipotles along with 2 tsp of the adobo sauce
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Salt and Pepper

Instructions

 

Salmon Brine

• Mix all of the ingredients together. Submerge the salmon, making sure that all the salmon is under the brine. A trick for keeping it under the water is to add ice to a baggie and put it on top of the salmon.
• Let the salmon and brine hang out in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours. The longer you let it sit in the brine the saltier it becomes. I like to take mine out at about 1 and 1/2 hours.
• Take the salmon out of the brine and let it sit on a rack on your counter for about 2 hours. The goal here is for the top of the salmon to dry out. You are letting your salmon form a thin sticky shiny layer on top called a pellicle. This is the key to really great smoked salmon.
• Smoke your salmon. I smoke mine on a much higher temperature for this recipe. I only want a light smoke flavor. I use hickory wood chips.
  
• Keep your smoker between 200 and 250 degrees. Check your salmon after 15 min. It should be lighter in colour on the inside and flake apart easily.

Mango-Lime Slaw

• Peel and slice the mango into thin small match sticks.
  
• Shred the both the carrot and the cabbage. keeping it about the same size as the mango.
  
• Slice the green onions in long thin strips. The goal is to try and keep all of the ingredients about the same shape and size.
  
• Chop the cilantro. Zest and juice the lime and whisk it with the olive oil.
• Mix all the ingredients together. taste and add your salt and pepper. Let sit in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat!
  

Chipotle Cream Sauce

• Measure out all of the ingredients into a good blender EXCEPT the heavy cream.
  
• Only use two of the chipotle peppers. They are very spicy!
  
• Blend everything up. Add the cream to the mixture and pulse it a couple of times. Keep in the refrigerator.
  

Notes