Carne Asada Taco Recipe
Alright its been awhile since I’ve worked on a new taco recipe with moving, Halloween, the US election, and of course Dia de Los Muertos I thought I would finally bring out a recipe for carne asada tacos (tacos de carne asada). Good steak tacos always hit the spot. before we begin, I should mention there a few items on the ingredient list that might be hard to find it took some time for me to find them and I’m happy to give you all hints on where to find them. One of the first hard to find ingredients is Maggi Jugo Seasoning, (essentially it’s a Mexican Soy sauce) I had to find this one in a Mexican grocer, it comes in a small glass bottle with yellow labeling. One of the second hard to find items is actually going to be the meat, arrachera or better known as skirt steak. Skirt steak is going to be harder to find at most stores, it’s somewhat rare mainly because the animal only yields 2 skirt steaks, an outside and an inside. The price for a skirt steak is also going to fall slightly below a strip steak. You’ll pay around $14-$16 a lb for this tender piece of meat. I was able to find this cut of meat at a Kings supermarket. Oddly enough your final hard to find ingredient is going to be Modelo Negra depending on your area, some stores carry just the Modelo Especial pilsner variant. If you are really having difficulty finding the beer which is actually a German style dunkel beer try a Spaten München Dunkel or a darker beer with the words “dunkel” in the description, while an Oktoberfest beer is similar it is different.
Before we get into it I just want to mention my girlfriend decided to make some Halloween/Día de Los Muertos cupcakes as the steak marinated for 3 hours (yes 3 hours, get it right!)
Ingredients (1 lb of steak serves 2 – makes 6 tacos)
- 1 12 oz bottle Modelo Negra ( or a German Dunkel beer)
- corn tortillas taco sized – make your own or use store bought – flour is ok
- 1-2 lbs Skirt steak (can substitute with flank steak, the cut will be a little tougher best to cook more rare/medium if substituting)
- 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped (use fresh)
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon black pepper (use freshly ground)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Maggi Jugo
- optional* diced white onion for topping
- optional* caramelized onions
- optional* diced fresh cilantro
- optional* queso fresco cheese (Mexican white crumbling cheese, don’t substitute)
- optional* sauce of your choice, or use the guide to making a serrano pepper hot sauce, we used a mango habanero sauce for these tacos.
Directions
- First step you’ll need to do is pretty simple, it involves marinating the skirt steak. Combine the lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, Maggi Jugo seasoning, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin and add your beer into a container. Mix the marinade and add your steak. To ensure easy marinating and cooking feel free to cut the steak in half, after all it is a long piece. Let the steak marinate covered in the fridge for 3 hours.
- Prepare your toppings – chop your cilantro, remember the majority of the flavor from cilantro comes from the stems not the leaves, make sure to chop it all. Dice up some of your white onion, and set aside some crumbled queso fresco.
- When the steak is just about marinated make your tortillas and caramelize your onions if desired, when your onions are ready, finely chop them.
- Cooking the steak: on the stove top use a non stick pan, add in your olive oil and preheat the pan on medium heat. We want to hear the steak sizzle as soon as it hits the pan. A skirt steak is fairly thin so take this into account when cooking, 7 minutes on each side is going to give you a well done steak, aim for 4-5 minutes each side if your’e looking for medium rare.
- After cooking set aside and let the steak rest for a minute, thinly slice your steak, and then finely chop. Biting into a taco with just thinly sliced steak is not going to be easy make sure to chop the steak into smaller pieces.
- Add your toppings and enjoy with your leftover beers!
Solid Taco Review 