Being in the kitchen with my daughters is one of the things that I love most—tinkering with new tastes and textures, talking, and eating. These seaweed tacos are one of our favorite dishes to make together. Anyone who’s eaten in my home knows how much I like to make tacos. But they are tacos with lettuce leaves, endive, jamón slices, or almost anything but tortillas—above all, crispy sheets of nori seaweed. We’ll cook up a big batch of rice, cover the table with vegetables and condiments, and improvise our way through dinner. Don’t be shy: Your fridge and pantry and spice cabinet are filled with treasures. There is no set formula here; what makes it so cool is that you can’t go wrong. It’s 50 percent Japanese, 50 percent Spanish, and 100 percent American.
SERVES 4
20 crispy nori sheets
4 cups Sushi Rice or Really Good Garlic Rice
FILLINGS (choose as many as you like)
Sliced or seared avocado
Halved cherry tomatoes
Roasted vegetables
Piquillo peppers (or other jarred roasted peppers)
Jamón
Kimchi
Caviar
CONDIMENTS (your choice)
Soy sauce
Ponzu
Sriracha
TOPPINGS (your choice again)
Furikake
Toasted sesame seeds
Fresh herbs
Sprouts
Baby lettuces, separated into leaves
Arrange everything on plates or platters and spread out on the dinner table or the kitchen counter. Fill a sheet of nori with a bit of rice plus a filling or two, and add a condiment and a topping. Make tacos for yourself, make tacos for others; go nuts.