Dare I say these are the most stunning tacos I’ve ever seen? The pink tortillas (naturally colored with dragonfruit powder) make for one truly unique, and truly beautiful taco.
It all started with a vision… a vision of a hot pink tortilla. I have no idea where this vision came from, all I know is that once it was there, there was no ignoring it. I still had some dragonfruit powder left over from my unicorn hot chocolate drink mix this past fall (the dragonfruit powder giving the drink a pretty-in-pink hue that’s entirely natural). As it turns out this pink powder makes for gorgeously hued corn tortillas as well! And before you ask, the tortillas just taste like normal tortillas. The dragonfruit powder doesn’t add any noticeable flavor, only color.
Since my tortillas were going to be pink, I figured, why not go all in with the pink/dragonfruit theme and top the tacos with a bright and fruity dragonfruit salsa. Dragonfruit is hard to find around these parts, but my friends at Melissa’s were so kind to send me an assortment of both white and red to play with for this recipe! I ended up using a combination of both in the salsa for a really unique and beautiful appearance. While dragonfruit is drop-dead gorgeous, it’s unfortunate that the flavor isn’t quite as spectacular. The best way to describe it is like a mild, watery kiwi. Only perfectly ripe dragonfruit has any flavor at all (unripe fruit won’t taste like anything).
So yes, I fully admit the use of dragonfruit here is more novelty than anything (because it just looks so downright cool). The salsa itself has a hearty squeeze of lime juice and a generous amount of salt and chili powder, all of which serve to amplify and exaggerate the mild flavor of the dragonfruit. If you’re using a mix of white and red dragonfruit, I recommend holding off adding the red fruit to the salsa until the very end, then just lightly fold it in. The color is potent, and will quickly turn your pristine white dragonfruit pale pink if you’re not careful. And that’s not all it will stain, so definitely wear and apron if you care about your clothing while preparing the fruit. Can’t find dragonfruit? This recipe would work swimmingly with mango or pineapple as well.
We hemmed and hawed over the base protein for these tacos, even going so far as a vegan jackfruit option (which as it turns out is rather bland, so we nixed that idea pretty quickly). Fish and shrimp were our next contenders, and a quick poll in my facebook group had shrimp coming out on top by a wide margin. So, we went with shrimp, and it was the right choice indeed. I’m not even a shrimp lover (call me a shrimp skeptic, if you will) but these tacos were fab. Also: blackened shrimp is a thing, but it’s not blackened like charcoal blackened. Rather, it refers to the spices that coat the outside of the shrimp, ‘blackening’ them with chili powder rather than charcoal. Which really means that all that intense color is pure flavor. I think I might be more of a shrimp fan than I thought! That said, you could also use this same recipe with fish or chicken (just increase the cooking times, obviously!)
Let’s be honest: the real star of these tacos are the hot pink tortillas. They are made just like typical corn tortillas, with a bit of dragon fruit powder whisked into the masa. All you need is a tablespoon to produce a gorgeous, vibrant magenta. I use a cast iron tortilla press, however, I find it doesn’t get them quite as thin as I like. So after pressing, I roll it out a bit more with a rolling pin, then cut out a perfect round using a 5-inch-round cookie cutter. You can skip this last step, your tortillas will just be more rustically shaped. Another tip? Use a plastic freezer bag with 3 sides cut off to keep your masa from sticking to the press. I find the thick plastic bag works much better than parchment or plastic wrap (both of which tend to wrinkle).
For those curious, the microgreens on top are red amaranth, which has the most beautiful magenta stems and leaves. Totally optional for this recipe, but when I get into something (like the everything-hot-pink of these tacos) I really get into it, and figured that one more hot pink element couldn’t hurt. 😉
