King Crab Salad Tacos | J for Jalapeño

June starts with the letter J. How many ingredients starting with “J” can I put into a summer dish? That’s the IHCC’S challenge this week. Thanks, Rick Bayless for helping me out with a wonderful seafood recipe of king crab salad tacos. I can put into the salad: 1) jalapeño and 2) jicama. Mix in the sharp and bright roasted tomatillo salsa. That’s a must. Then serve it with tacos. You’re done!

Rick Bayless says king crab salad tacos are popular in the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico where seafood is abundant. If you are not familiar with king crab, he put together a YouTube video and show us how to extract meat from a king crab. By the way, he packs in some really useful tips to help overcome any reluctance you might have making a seafood salad like this.

Besides king crabs, a can of crab meat, or even shrimps would do nicely as well in this recipe. In addition to the “J” ingredients, you need Greek yogurt, green onion, and cilantro. Of course, individual taco as the vessel! All things considered, nothing unusual or unexpected for a seafood salad.

However, the roasted tomatillo salsa is the privitol ingredient not to miss. The tangy and spicy taste of the salsa is what makes the king crab salad sing in your mouths. For sure, this salsa is a keeper and it’s versatile for a wide range of soup, salad and taco recipes. Make a big batch and there is no place that this salsa won’t go — and do the heavy lifting.

Happy June!

Print Recipe

King Crab Salad Tacos with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Serves: 12 Tacos

Ingredients

• 1 pound King crab legs, cooked, meat removed from shell (you should get about 12 ounces), cut into ½ inch pieces or 2 6-ounce cans jumbo lump crab meat
• About 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, Mexican crema or sour cream
• About 1/2 cup Roasted Tomatillo Salsa, store bought or homemade
• 1 green onion, roots and wilted outer leaves removed, thinly sliced
• A small handful cilantro, chopped, plus some leaves for garnish
• 1 fresh hot green chile (such as serrano or jalapeño), stemmed, seeds removed if you wish and finely chopped
• Salt
• 12 warm corn tortillas, for serving
• FOR THE ROASTED TOMATILLO SALSA:
• 8 ounces (3 to 4 medium)tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• Fresh hot green chiles to taste (1 or 2 serranos or 1 jalapeno), stemmed
• 2 large garlic cloves, peeled
• 6 sprigs of fresh cilantro (thick bottom stems cut off), roughly chopped
• 1 small white onion, finely chopped
• Salt

Instructions

1

In a medium bowl, combine the crab, Greek yogurt (or one of its substitutes), tomatillo salsa, green onion, cilantro and chile. Taste and season with salt, usually a generous 1/2 teaspoon. Scoop crab mixture into warm corn tortillas and garnish with cilantro leaves.

2

MAKE THE ROASTED TOMATILLO SALSA:

3

Roast the tomatillos, chile(s) and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, until blotchy black and softening (they’ll be turning from lime green to olive), about 5 minutes. Flip them over and roast the other side. Cool, then transfer everything to a blender, including all the delicious juice the tomatillos have exuded during roasting. Add the cilantro and 1/4 cup water, then blend to a coarse puree. Scoop into a serving dish.

4

Rinse the onion under cold water, then shake to remove excess moisture. Stir into the salsa and season with salt, usually 1/2 teaspoon.

Notes

https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/king-crab-salad-tacos/