Grilled lamb tacos with homemade tortillas

2024 Young Chef of the Year Brian Cole shares his grilled lamb tacos with homemade tortillas, infused with a fusion of flavours inspired by Jamaica, native Australian and Asia.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• Olive oil, for drizzling
• 500 g lamb backstrap

For the jerk sauce

• 100 g spring onion
• 10 g ginger
• 5 g garlic
• 5 g habanero chilli
• 60 g soy sauce
• 60 g olive oil
• 1 lemon, finely zested
• 20 g lemon juice

For the wattleseed tortilla

• 250 g masa corn flour
• 10 g ground wattleseed
• 5 g salt
• 150–200 g warm water

For the rivermint salsa

• 50 g finely chopped tomato
• 10 g finely chopped red onion
• 1 tsp rivermint, finely chopped

Resting time: 5 minutes 

Instructions

1. To make the jerk sauce, combine the ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth. Set aside.
2. To make the wattleseed tortillas, in a large bowl, combine the corn masa flour, ground wattleseed and salt. Gradually add enough of the warm water until the mixture forms a thick dough, then roll into a ball. If the dough is sticking, add a little masa flour to help prevent sticking. Portion the dough into balls, around the size of golf balls. Use a tortilla press or a flat-bottomed pan to press out into tortillas – make sure you line the tortilla press or tortilla dough with plastic wrap or a press-seal bag to prevent sticking.
3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add a tortilla to the pan and cook for 10 seconds, then flip. Cook each side for around 1 minute, or until light brown spots form on the tortillas. Wrap the cooked tortillas in a clean tea towel and set aside to keep warm.
4. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the lamb with salt and black pepper, then sear for 3 minutes per side, or until cooked to your liking. Remove to a plate and rest for 5 minutes.
5. While the lamb is resting, combine the ingredients for the rivermint salsa in a medium bowl. Once the lamb has rested, thinly slice.
6. Take everything to the table to allow everyone to serve themselves. Spoon a little jerk sauce onto the homemade tortilla and top with grilled lamb and the rivermint salsa then serve.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.