Celery Root "Taco" By Chef Rob Rubba

Name: Celery Root "Taco" By Chef Rob Rubba
Prep time: 20 s
Cook time: 30 s
Total time: 50 s
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: FOR THE TACOS AND ROASTED MUSHROOMS; Vegetable oil; Celery root; Maitake mushrooms; Small red onion; Maple syrup; Soy sauce; Black garlic vinegar; Chili flakes; Freshly ground black pepper; FOR THE SMOKED TOFU; Organic smoked tofu; Dried onion; Dried garlic; White miso; Smoked paprika; Apple cider vinegar; Vegetable oil; Cilantro

17 Mar 2025

Rob Rubba

Chef

Difficulty

Intermediate

Total Time

50MIN

Cuisine

Mexican

American

Ingredients

FOR THE TACOS AND ROASTED MUSHROOMS

Vegetable oil: for frying

Celery root: 1 (shaved into 10 rounds, 1 mm thick)

Maitake mushrooms: 250 g

Small red onion: 1 (thinly sliced)

Maple syrup: 50 g

Soy sauce: 50 g

Black garlic vinegar: 20 g

Chili flakes: to taste

Freshly ground black pepper: to taste

FOR THE SMOKED TOFU

Organic smoked tofu: 1 block

Dried onion: 5 g

Dried garlic: 3 g

White miso: 5 g

Smoked paprika: 5 g

Apple cider vinegar: 10 g

Vegetable oil: 100 g

Cilantro: for garnish

Chef Rob Rubba of Oyster Oyster reimagines the taco with delicate, crispy celery root shells filled with seared maitake mushrooms glazed in maple and soy, tangy pickled celery root, and a rich, smoky tofu sauce. This plant-based creation is a masterclass in deep umami flavors and creative vegetable cookery.

How to make Celery Root "Tacos"

01.

Prepare the Celery Root Shells

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan to 345°F.
Fry 5 celery root rounds until golden, about 1–2 minutes per side.
Remove and immediately shape each into a taco shell by wrapping it around a dowel or similar cylindrical object. Set aside.

02.

Prepare the Pickled Celery Root

In a small bowl, season the remaining 5 celery root rounds with black garlic vinegar and salt.
Let sit for 10 minutes or until pliable. Set aside.

03.

Roast the Mushrooms

Heat a medium pan over medium heat with a light coating of oil.
Sear maitake mushrooms until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Add sliced red onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes.
Stir in maple syrup, soy sauce, black garlic vinegar, chili flakes, and black pepper.
Braise over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

04.

Prepare the Smoked Tofu Sauce

In a blender, combine smoked tofu, dried onion, dried garlic, white miso, smoked paprika, apple cider vinegar, and vegetable oil.
Blend on high speed until smooth and creamy.

05.

Assemble the Tacos

Fill each crispy celery root shell with pickled celery root and roasted mushrooms.
Drizzle with smoked tofu sauce.
Garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.

Rob Rubba

17 Mar 2025

Chef Enthusiast

Home Cooking

The Chef

As a young chef, Rob Rubba rose through the ranks working under a string of legends–Gordon Ramsay, Guy Savoy, and Charlie Trotter. At their restaurants, meat was a must, butter was a building block, and both were often used in excess. In 2013, Rubba moved to the D.C. area, making a name for himself with Hazel, a craft-centric multi-culti marvel that won the Restaurant of the Year award from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan DC.

Heading up his own concept where he controlled the menu inspired deeper contemplation. “Once I had that carte blanche, I wondered, ‘Wow, where are some of these ingredients coming from?’,” Rubba says.

An epiphany emerged from his research and inner dialogue. “I realized that as much as I wanted to use a local producer for pork, chicken, and beef, it wasn't sustainable given our volume and need for set cuts of meat,” he says. “The deeper I looked, the more I realized that this wasn't the future of food. We've had this fabric pulled over our eyes that this is how we should operate as a restaurant, but that was all built out of convenience for the business.”

He embraced vegetarianism and began envisioning a restaurant rooted in sustainability, a term he defines as, “Finding ways to exist in the world with as minimal impact as possible, while looking at everything as a complete cycle with no waste. It’s about being in touch again with nature and the cycles of life, and letting that guide us more than the material world.”

The concept that came out of this soul searching was Oyster Oyster: a 28-seat tasting menu restaurant tucked away in D.C.’s buzzy Shaw neighborhood specializing in of-the-moment plant-forward cuisine (prepared vegan or vegetarian) crafted from ingredients sourced from local farmers, foragers, and specialty producers, and fortified by house-made ferments and larder projects.

“There were a lot of people who didn't think we'd be successful and told us we would close within the first six months,” says Rubba.

His detractors couldn’t have been more wrong. His vision paid off: Oyster Oyster holds a Michelin star, and in 2023, he won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef.

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