Deep fried jamaica or hibiscus flowers are a crunchy treat to start a meal. I first tasted these in a restaurant in Guadalajara, and have been wrapped with them ever since.
Makes 12-16 small tacos
1
quart water3/4
cup jamaica (hibiscus) flowers2
cups oil for deep frying- Salt
12-16
small corn tortillas- Mexican Crema or sour cream
In a medium pot, bring one quart of water to a boil. Add 1/2 cup dried Jamaica flowers and simmer for five minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
With a sieve, strain flowers from the liquid. Reserve the liquid for making
jamaica juice (agua fresca). Lay the flowers out on a paper towel to blot up excess moisture.
In a large pot, heat the oil for deep frying. Avoid making the oil too hot, because it will cook the flowers too quickly and they will burn. You want the flowers to take about one minute to fry, so they release enough moisture to be crisp throughout. Add the flowers and fry for a minute.
As the flowers first start cooking there will be lots of bubbling. This is water vapor being released. Near the end of cooking, there will be almost no bubbles, meaning all the water has been released from the flowers. When the flowers reach this state, lift them out and place them on a paper towel to soak up the extra oil. Salt the flowers and serve immediately.
Spoon some flowers onto fresh warm tortillas. Drizzle with
crema and enjoy.