A new take on tacos
“Not just an ordinary taco.”
That’s the motto behind Hoover’s newest food truck, Taco Tech. With options such as jerk chicken tacos, Thai beef tacos and Buffalo chicken tacos, owner Kadek Sudarsana’s tacos are as innovative as they are delicious.
Since opening at the end of January, the Taco Tech food truck has been making the rounds. It has frequented the Lake Cyrus and Ross Bridge farmers markets, as well as multiple office locations on Blue Lake Drive, Ball Park Drive and U.S. 280 and Lakeshore Drive.
Sudarsana said he got the idea for a taco truck in two parts. One part came after eating at the taco truck frequently parked on Green Springs Highway. The other was after he and his partner opened Shiki, a Thai and sushi restaurant in Homewood. Shiki is where the former Pinches Taco was, and Sudarsana said both these things got him thinking. He wanted to open a taco truck, but he knew he had to do it differently.
“I knew I could not compete with the food truck on Green Springs because they’re from Mexico, and I can’t compete with authentic Mexican tacos,” Sudarsana said. “So I was like, ‘I’ll cook something else with an Asian twist to it.’”
Sudarsana, a native of Bali, Indonesia, said Asian fusion was an obvious choice given his background and experience cooking different Asian cuisines. He has the equivalent of an associate’s degree in cooking from Indonesia, then worked as a chef at a Chinese restaurant, Thai restaurant and Japanese hibachi before opening Shiki in December and Taco Tech the following month. Prior to moving to the U.S. in 2001, he worked as a chef on a cruise ship.
“That’s why I have a little of everything on the menu,” he said.
For Sudarsana, a little of everything means his tacos represent food from around the world. On the Asian side, he does a beef bulgogi taco with pickled carrots representing Korean cuisine. He also makes a Japanese taco featuring teriyaki chicken and roasted cabbage, as well as a beef rendang taco — spicy braised shredded beef in coconut curry, a favorite from his home country of Indonesia.
On the other side of things, Sudarsana has a crispy shrimp taco with remoulade sauce, based on a New Orleans style po’ boy and a Jamaican jerk chicken taco. He also prepares a few traditional taco offerings including pollo and carne asada with onion, cilantro and two types of salsa.
All Sudarsana’s tacos are served on fresh corn tortillas, and he offers tempura battered green beans and queso waffle fries as sides. In addition, Sudarsana makes traditional quesadillas and a nacho taco salad with ginger dressing. Menu items average $6 for two tacos or from $5 to $8 for a quesadilla. With all of his recipes, Sudarsana said packing intense flavor is most important to him.
“I love playing with seasonings,” Sudarsana said. “All of my tacos have strong flavors.”
He said with offering a new take on tacos, it’s important to impress customers with flavor from the first taste.
“Nowadays, people want to try something different,” he said. “The way I look at it is, if you have something different and it tastes good, they’ll go for it, but if you have something different and it’s bland, they’ll probably try one and not give it another shot.”
Despite the risks and challenges of owning a food truck, Sudarsana said he is happy to be on the road.
“We’re literally going to the customer, not waiting for them to come to us,” he said.
Eventually, he said he would like to open a Taco Tech storefront in Mountain Brook, Homewood or Hoover.
To find out where Taco Tech will be, follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.