Hot and Crunchy Shrimp and Chicken with Avocado Cone

I believe that if you wanted to call something a cone it should be more than a gimmick. The cone should be more than just a paper snow cone cup; it should enhance the character of the dish itself.

So the first thing I decided to do differently was to deep fry the flour tortilla into a cone shape that could be utilized as a serving vessel itself. The cone was dusted with chili powder and paprika to help impart an extra level of spice and flavor.


Instead of making cole slaw and a spicy aioli, I combined the two elements and created a Sriracha aioli slaw. This consisted of shredded cabbage, carrots, and Sriracha ailoi.


I also did away with breading the avocado and deep frying it, I left it in its natural form to ensure that the rich and creamy flavor doesn't get masked.


The last element of this dish consists of using corn flakes as breading for the shrimp and chicken. I didn't change the use of the corn flakes but I did eliminate the sesame seeds and added roasted ancho chili flakes to add a touch of heat along with your basic salt, pepper, and sugar to help boost the flavor. The chicken and shrimp were marinated in salt, pepper, garlic, powder, cayenne pepper and paprika before being coated in the egg wash and battered.


Ingredients:


Large flour tortillas (10 inch diameter)
Canola oil (for deep frying)
1 chicken breast (halved and then cut into long strips)
12 shrimp (peeled)
1 cup corn flakes (processed and ground)
2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoon roasted ancho chili flakes
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup shredded cabbage (loosely packed)
1/2 cup shredded carrot (loosely packed)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 garlic cloves
1 - 2 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce


Directions:


Start by making the slaw first so that the cabbage and carrots get a chance to absorb some flavor before the dish is assembled. Shred your cabbage and carrots and set aside in a large bowl. In a food processor add the 2 garlic cloves and begin processing. Next, add your mayonnaise and Sriracha and continue processing for about 10 - 15 seconds. Your aioli is now complete and should have an orange coloring. Add your aioli to the cabbage and carrots and mix well. Set this aside in your refrigerator until you're ready to assemble your cone.


The next step in creating this dish is to create the cone itself. Heat the canola oil in a deep pan to 350 degrees. Fold the tortilla so that the bottom portion is smaller than the top portion. This will create your cone shape. Now take some egg wash and brush it on the inside of the top part of the tortilla that overlaps. Gently squeeze this area so that the egg wash works as a glue to hold the tortilla together while frying. Place the side with the egg wash into the fryer first. This will seal the tortilla and ensure that it will not open during the frying process. Continue cooking this side for about 2-3 minutes and then rotate the cone and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Repeat until the entire cone has been evenly fried. Immediately after removing the cone from the fryer dust it with 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of chili powder and paprika. Set this aside on a towel to cool and drain.

Marinate the chicken and shrimp separately by adding the following to each: 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/2 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Mix well and let this rest for at least 10-15 minutes.

To create the breading, add the corn flakes to the food processor and blend until the grains are semi-fine (a few large chunks won't hurt either). Process enough corn flakes until you get about 1 full cup after processing. Add this to a deep dish along with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons ancho chili flakes, and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. Mix these ingredients well and set aside.

Now that you have everything ready, it's time to setup your breading and frying station. Start by dipping the proteins in the egg wash and then the breading and directly into the fryer. The shrimp should be done in less than a minute and then chicken takes anywhere from 2-3 minutes. Remove the fried proteins and set it on some paper towels to cool and drain.


To build this cone, I stuffed it with the Sriracha slaw first since this contains the sauce for the cone. Then the chicken strips and shrimps were stuffed on top of the slaw. Next, layer the avocado delicately on top of the proteins and add another layer of the slaw.


Click here to go back to the review of "The Mighty Cone"

Project Austin Food Trailer Tour: The Mighty Cone was a Mighty Disappointment (Austin, TX)

This past weekend a group of friends and I started Project Austin Food Trailer Tour, where we’ll attempt to sample as many things as we can at a food trailer we have chosen. We hope to do this every week or every other week- depending on the weather, of course.  The idea behind this is to help promote one of the great things about Austin; being able to find good food from not so ideal locations. I’ll provide reviews from each of the establishments we visit and also try to recreate some of their signature dishes.

This week we visited the Mighty Cone- located at 1600 S. Congress Ave. My friends in the group had been here before and wanted me to start the tour off with a bang.  At first glance, of the not so extensive menu, I knew it would be easy for us to make our choice. We ordered two variations of the Hot & Crunchy Cone (chicken with avocado and shrimp with avocado), a beef slider, chili-dusted fries, and an order of fried pickles. There were three and a half of us (three adults and one toddler) eating, so it’s not as much food as it sounds.

I started off with the Hot & Crunchy Cones; both were prepared the same way- shrimp or chicken covered with corn flakes and sesame seed breading topped with a spicy aioli sauce. The avocado was breaded in the same fashion and deep-fried, as well. These ingredients sat on top of your standard coleslaw wrapped in a flour tortilla and served in a paper cone.

Sounds delicious right?

That’s what I thought until I took my first bite- I paused- and took a second bite. Maybe my palette wasn’t fooling me, could it be true that this wonderfully textured meal wrapped in a tortilla could be so bland?

So, I started to deconstruct my “cone” (it’s really just a taco) to taste each element individually. I came to this conclusion:

The super crunchy texture was great on both the chicken and shrimp but lacked any flavor whatsoever; this is a case where a little salt and pepper was really needed. However, both proteins were not over cooked so that was a good thing.

The spicy aioli really disappointed me; this could have been the one thing that brought the dish together. Instead, the aioli was a bit watery and lacked any garlic or chili flavor. It was just a very pretty orange sauce that served no other purpose than to add color to the dish.

The deep fried avocado was an over kill when it came to using the corn flake and sesame breading. It didn’t add anything constructive or flavorful to this dish.  If anything, the large chunk of avocado was a bit hard to eat just because of the size.

The use of the coleslaw was a bit confusing to me. It was pretty much your standard coleslaw that you can get anywhere in town. Its place at the bottom of the cone conflicted with the use of the aioli on top. They’re both mayonnaise-based sauces; one with garlic and the other with sugar. There was one good thing about the coleslaw- it wasn’t bland like all of the other components of this dish.

All-in-all, the texture was nice but the flavor was non-existent.

Next, we moved on to the beef slider which consisted of all natural beef, red onions, and tomatoes squeezed between a dinner roll. Yes! I was so excited because there is now way you can mess up a simple beef slider, right?

Wrong again.

First, let me complain about the cost which is way over-priced for the amount being served. You get one slider- and it really is a slider- not a hamburger for just under six dollars. I’ve had Kobe burgers that tasted a hundred times better and were cheaper than this slider.

I took a bite and the first thing I noticed was that the meat was a little dry, as if someone was really pressing on this patty to get it to cook faster. The second thing I noticed was that, once again, the food was bland.

As I sigh in disappointment, my internal thoughts keep reverting back to, “How do you screw up a slider, an expensive one at that?”

I moved on to the sides and the fried pickles were okay. They were breaded in the same corn flake and sesame breading and at this point I can’t help but feel like the breading is getting to be a little bit of overkill.

The chili-dusted fries were the highlight of the meal and not because they had tons of flavor, but because you could drench them in ketchup.

Our tour started off with a bust instead of a bang, but that’s ok because there are still a lot of other places to eat in Austin and I’m going to try to find them. I’m sure I’ll find a dish that I love and give the ultimate compliment of recreating rather than trying to find a way to improve on their dish, concept, or flavors.


Click here for the Bistro 331 Version of  "Hot and Crunchy Shrimp and Chicken with Avocado Cone"