Prawn & Mango Tacos with Chipotle Crema

Ingredients

• 300 g raw king prawns, peeled, deveined
• 6 small corn tortillas, warmed
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 0.5 tsp cumin
• 0.5 red onion, finely diced
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp soured cream
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 ripe mango, diced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 15g coriander, chopped
• 1 tbsp chipotle paste
• 1 small avocado, sliced
• Red cabbage slaw, to serve
• Pickled jalapeños, to serve
• Seasoned black beans, to serve

Method

1. Stir the chipotle paste through the soured cream until streaky and rust-coloured. Season with a pinch of salt and a small squeeze of lime juice, then chill while you crack on.
2. Toss the diced mango with the red onion, chilli, the rest of the lime juice and most of the coriander. Season with a good pinch of salt — taste it. It should land sharp, sweet and a touch fiery. Set aside so the flavours mingle.
3. Pat the prawns bone-dry on kitchen paper — water means steam, and steam means no char. Toss with the smoked paprika, cumin, olive oil and a generous pinch of salt and pepper until evenly coated. The oil and dry heat will bloom the spices in the pan, so don't skip the coating — raw spices taste dusty, bloomed ones taste of themselves.
4. Get a large frying pan ripping hot over a high heat until it's almost smoking. Lay the prawns in a single layer — if your pan is small, do this in two batches. Crowd them and they'll steam in their own juices instead of charring. Cook for 2–3 minutes, turning once, until pink, curled, and catching dark spice-flecked char at the edges. The cumin and paprika should smell toasted and fragrant, not acrid. Tip onto a plate.
5. Warm the tortillas one by one in the same dry pan for 20–30 seconds a side, or straight over a gas flame until lightly blistered and pliable. Stack and wrap in a tea towel to keep them soft.
6. Taste the salsa one more time — adjust salt and lime now, not at the table. The mango should sing.
7. Build at the table: swipe each warm tortilla with chipotle crema, pile on the charred prawns, spoon over the mango salsa, lay in a couple of avocado slices, then top with pickled jalapeños, a tangle of red cabbage slaw and a spoon of seasoned black beans alongside. Scatter the extra coriander, squeeze a lime wedge over each taco, and eat straight away while the tortillas are still warm.