Carne Asada Tacos
Serves: 4
Prep: 10 minutes + Marinade
Cook: 15 minutes
Ingredients
700g skirt steak
2 limes
1 orange
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chilli flakes
To serve as tacos
12 small corn or flour tortillas
Your choice of sauce
Method
1. Make the marinade
Finely grate the garlic into a bowl large enough to hold the steak.
Squeeze in the lime and orange juice, then add the olive oil, soy sauce, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, chilli flakes, salt and plenty of black pepper.
Add the steak and massage the marinade thoroughly into the meat. Cover and refrigerate for 1–4 hours.
2. Get the steak ready
Remove the steak from the fridge around 20 minutes before cooking.
When you’re ready to cook, lift the steak from the marinade and pat away any excess liquid from the surface. A drier surface means better contact with the pan and a much better crust.
3. Cook the steak
Heat a cast-iron pan or heavy frying pan over a very high heat until smoking hot.
Add the steak and leave it alone while it initially sears. If it is still firmly stuck to the pan, it isn’t ready to move yet.
Once it releases, turn it regularly, allowing each side to make repeated contact with the hot pan. Keep cooking until deeply browned and charred on the outside and cooked to your liking, around 4–6 minutes in total depending on the thickness of the steak.
4. Rest and slice
Transfer the steak to a board and rest for 8–10 minutes.
Look at the meat to identify which direction the grain is running, then slice the steak thinly across the grain.
Spoon any resting juices back over the sliced meat.
5. Warm the tortillas
Warm small corn or flour tortillas in the dry pan until soft and lightly charred.
Keep wrapped in a clean tea towel while you warm the rest.
6. Build the tacos
Start with a layer of sauce directly on the tortilla. Something creamy, sharp or spicy works particularly well with the charred beef.
Pile the sliced carne asada on top, then finish with a fresh salsa.
My Charred Corn Salsa is made for this — sweet, smoky corn with tomato, onion, coriander and lime gives the beef exactly the freshness and acidity it needs.