Do you like experimenting with your kitchen creations? With In the Kitchen, Yello is bringing you some great recipes to try out from some of The Bahamas’ most talented chefs.

Asteir Dean from New Providence was part of the Bahamas National Culinary team that competed in the 2017 Taste of the Caribbean held in Miami, Florida. This culinary whiz is sharing a recipe to help take your conch game to the next level.

His recipe for tropical cracked conch tacos with pickled goat pepper aioli is sure to make your mouth water.

Here’s the recipe!

Tropical Cracked Conch Tacos with Pickled Goat Pepper Aioli (yields 10 tacos)

6 whole fresh conchs

1 yellow onion

½ red onion

1 bell pepper

1 cup fresh cilantro

1 cup fresh thyme

2 cups fresh mango

2 cups fresh pineapple

6 eggs

2 quarts all-purpose flour

Soft shell tacos

1 bottle vegetable oil

For the aioli:

1 qt mayonnaise

1 tsp freshly grated ginger

1 ½ tsp freshly grated garlic

½ lemon

½ cup fresh parsley

2 finely diced pickled goat pepper

For the pickling solution: 

1 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup white granulated sugar

1 cup kosher salt

2 bay leaves

½ cup coconut rum

2 cups water

 

Method:

In a large pot add one bottle of vegetable oil and set to medium heat. Slice conch in half and tenderise. Once tenderised, in a bowl marinate with lemon, kosher salt, black pepper, and thyme. Batter and fry for three minutes or until golden.

For the pickling, add water, vinegar, salt, sugar, bay leaf, coconut rum and water to a small sauce pan. Stir, bring to a rapid boil and turn off the heat. When done, pour over goat pepper in a bowl and cover for one hour. This process can also be done in advance.

For the salsa, dice yellow and red onions, bell pepper, mango, and pineapple into small pieces. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add chopped cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste with a touch of lemon.

To make the aioli, add mayonnaise, ginger, garlic, lemon, parsley and fine diced pickled goat pepper.

Assemble tacos to liking and enjoy!

To find out more about Asteir, check out our interview with him here.