Hibiscus Flower Tacos

I love the concept of edible flowers. There's something simply romantic about eating beautiful flowers. This recipe was taught to me  by my mother, who is an excellent cook. It's great to treat visitors from out of town or simply to enjoy at home, besides being very easy to make. It can be served as a main dish or a starter. It's also an excellent finger food., for this variation wrap the tortilla, cut into 3 pieces and serve with toothpicks.


Hibiscus Flower Tacos


Ingredients:


-1/2 kg of hibiscus flowers (In Mexico you can find them at any grocery store or market. In other countries you might be able to find them at specialized grocery stores or ethnic markets. I found this page from Traditional Foods which I hope helps. If you know of a place to buy hibiscus flowers in your area, please share in the comments section)


-3 lt of drinking water


-2 table spoons of vegetable oil


-1 chopped red onion (white onion is good too) 


-tortillas 


-salt to taste


-pepper to taste


-minced garlic to taste


If time is not an issue, you can leave the flowers soaking in the water overnight. Otherwise, you'll need to boil the flowers for 5 minutes. Don't pour the water down the drain! Use it as a concentrate to make a Hibiscus drink, just add water to taste and a couple of tea spoons of sugar.


Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan. Once it's hot, add the chopped onion until it starts becoming transparent. Add the hibiscus flowers, salt, pepper, and minced garlic. The cooking time depends on the texture you want, if you prefer them soft and tender then 5 to 10 minutes is enough. If you would rather they were crispier then about 15 minutes should be enough. Taste them as you go to see what you like best. Serve on a hot tortilla!

The tacos can be filled with  a huge variety of options, beans, vegetable cheeses, vegetables, there's a wide range of options. My personal favorite  is mushrooms and chile de árbol hot sauce.


Serves 4 if you only fill the tacos with the hibiscus flowers.


Test omnivore approved, the test kid  wasn´t so sold on it.


Enjoy!