Charred Sweetcorn and Black Bean Tacos

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion, very thinly sliced
• 60ml red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 sweetcorn cobs, husks removed
• 2 x 400g tins black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp chipotle paste
• 1 lime, juiced
• 150g sour cream
• 1 tsp chipotle paste
• 1 lime, juiced
• 12 small soft corn tortillas, to serve
• 1 small bunch fresh coriander, leaves picked, to serve
• pickled jalapeños, to taste, to serve
• 2 limes, cut into wedges, to serve
• hot sauce, to serve

Method

1. Start with the pickled onions. Combine the sliced red onion, red wine vinegar and caster sugar in a bowl, season generously with salt and scrunch together with your hands for a full minute — you want the onion to bruise and start to slacken. Set aside for at least 20 minutes; they'll turn vivid pink and lose their bite.
2. Stir the soured cream, chipotle paste and lime juice together in a small bowl. Taste and season — a pinch of salt makes the lime sing. Refrigerate until needed.
3. Rub the sweetcorn cobs all over with the olive oil and smoked paprika, then season generously with salt and pepper. Heat a griddle pan over a high heat until lightly smoking — you want it properly hot, otherwise the cobs steam instead of charring.
4. Lay the cobs on the griddle in a single layer — don't crowd the pan, work in two batches if you need to. Cook for 10–12 minutes, turning every 2–3 minutes, until deeply charred with blackened patches all over. Set aside to cool slightly, then stand each cob upright on a board and slice the kernels off with a sharp knife.
5. While the corn chars, heat the olive oil in a wide frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sliced garlic and cook just until fragrant and pale gold — 30 to 60 seconds, no more. Watch it; burnt garlic turns the whole pan bitter and you'll have to start again.
6. Add the cumin, ground coriander and chipotle paste and bloom in the oil for 30–60 seconds, stirring constantly, until fragrant and the paste darkens. Raw ground spices taste dusty; bloomed spices taste of themselves.
7. Tip in the black beans with a splash of water — the liquid helps the spiced paste cling to the beans rather than catching on the pan base. Cook for 5–6 minutes, stirring occasionally and crushing a few beans against the side of the pan, until glossy and thickly coated. Stir in the lime juice off the heat, then taste, season, taste again. Adjust now — at the end, not at the table.
8. Warm the tortillas directly over a gas flame for 20–30 seconds per side until lightly charred and pliable, or wrap in foil and heat in a dry pan for 2 minutes until soft and warm. Stack and cover with a tea towel to keep them supple.
9. To assemble, spoon a generous mound of spiced black beans onto each warmed tortilla, top with the charred sweetcorn kernels and a tangle of bright pink pickled onion.
10. Drizzle lavishly with the chipotle crema, scatter over the fresh coriander leaves and pickled jalapeños, and serve straight away with the lime wedges for squeezing and hot sauce on the table.