Pouring One Out for Our Favorite Allston Takeout Spot

As I mentioned last week, Alex and I moved to Minneapolis in late July, after TEN YEARS in Boston. When I arrived in Boston in the summer of 2009—having never been responsible for paying rent and bills before, never lived without a car before, never tried to balance work and school before, etc.—I figured I’d be there for the two years it would take to get my Masters’ and then hightail it out of there. Things didn’t go as planned, in pretty much any sense, but I must say, they did turn out better than expected. Ten years isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things, but that wonderful, occasionally infuriating town will always feel like home to me.

If I tried to write a post about all the things I miss about Boston, we’d be here all day, so let me just take a moment to pay homage to our hands-down favorite takeout spot, OliToki. It was conveniently located about two blocks south of our lovely hobbit hole of an apartment in Allston, it was affordable, and it was insanely delicious, so we ordered their food… too often. We got to know most of the people who worked there, at least by sight, and when we picked up our last order of tacos, we told the owner we were moving. He seemed genuinely concerned for his bottom line when he heard the news. (In fairness, I think we’ve sent a few other regular customers his way. Hi Corey and Sully!)

While my very favorite item on their menu was a deep-fried cheesy rice and kimchi ball doused with hot sauce, I have not yet attempted to recreate that for the good of my overall nutritional health. These tacos, though, are killer, not deep-fried, and much easier to put together. I’ve been tinkering with this since we arrived in Minneapolis, and eight months later, I’m finally satisfied with the results. As far as what to call them, though… that’s up to you. Alex could never quite remember the name OliToki, so he eventually started calling it Tooki Tooki, which got shortened to Tooks. We call these Tooki Tacos. You probably won’t want to do that yourself. I understand.

The only thing you’ll actually make from scratch here is the chicken, and I used a Diana Henry recipe as a jumping off point. It might require a trip to an Asian grocery, unless your grocery store is stocked with miso paste and mirin– which it might be! I’ve noticed lately that supermarkets’ international sections are more varied than I’d previously realized. You’ll marinate boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a mixture of brown sugar, miso, mirin, soy sauce, fresh garlic and ginger, and chili powder. It’s sweet and savory and spicy all in one.

The rest of the taco is essentially just toppings: kimchi, thin-sliced red cabbage tossed in lime juice for a quick-pickle effect, shredded cheese, sliced avocado if you like, and two sauces: a sriracha-lime mayo (yes, mayo) and a sweetened gochujang sauce. You should definitely look for the gochujang at a supermarket instead of an Asian grocery; if you can, just cut to the chase and buy an Americanized version whose ingredient list includes sugar, soy sauce, and other stuff. That’ll save you the effort of making the sauce from scratch, which (ahem) I still haven’t figured out how to do. This brand tastes close enough to what I’m going for, and the fact that it comes in a squeeze bottle doesn’t hurt.

(If you can’t find the American version, real-deal gochujang loosened up with sesame oil and soy sauce and sweetened with a touch of honey works pretty well, too.)

If you’re in Boston, I really can’t recommend OliToki enthusiastically enough. Download their app and order some takeout! I truly hope they’re staying afloat during these weird times, and I know they could use any support their neighbors can offer. But if you’re elsewhere, these tacos should hit the spot.

OliToki Tacos
adapted from OliToki and Diana Henry

For the chicken:
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons mirin
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon brown miso
2 tsp grated fresh ginger (use about a 1-inch nub)
4 garlic cloves, grated
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
about 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs

Mix everything for the chicken (except the chicken itself) in a shallow dish. Add the chicken and let marinate at room temperature for about 30 minutes, flipping the pieces halfway through.

Heat a skillet over medium and add about a tablespoon of cooking oil. Sear the thighs until the chicken is cooked through about 15-20 minutes, flipping occasionally and lowering the heat if the sauce starts to burn. The sauce will caramelize a good bit and turn dark brown, but you’ll know by smell if it starts to cross over into burnt territory.

Let the chicken cool while you prep the other ingredients, then slice fairly thinly for the tacos.

For the sriracha mayo:
mayonnaise (Duke’s if you can get it)
Sriracha
lime wedge

We always eyeball this, but it turns out to be about 1/4 cup of mayo to 1 tablespoon Sriracha, with just a squeeze of lime. Taste it until it’s as spicy as you want it, with a little lift from the lime.

Remaining ingredients:
corn tortillas (I have a slight preference for yellow corn, but this is easily the least important aspect of these tacos)
shredded “Mexican blend” cheese (I can’t believe I’m telling you to buy pre-shredded cheese, either)
about a quarter of a small red cabbage, thinly sliced (toss it with the juice of a lime wedge after slicing)
store-bought kimchi
ripe avocado, thinly sliced
store-bought gochujang sauce

Assembly:
Arrange a rack in the second-highest position in your oven and turn your broiler on high. When hot, use tongs to place tortillas directly on the rack, and heat through for about 20 seconds on each side, just enough to make them warm and a little flexible.

Sprinkle cheese directly on hot tortillas, and top the cheese with sliced chicken. Top with cabbage, kimchi, and avocado slices. Drizzle with the sriracha mayo and the gochujang.

DIG IN.