Tacos with carne asada
I was recently in New York in search of the best street food in the city. During my visit to the Chelsea Market, I stumbled upon Los Tacos N°1, a wildly popular Mexican food stall where long lines of fans patiently wait for a delicious taco, tostada or quesadilla. My favorite one? A taco with carne asada.
What is a taco?
A taco is a small tortilla that you fill with meat, fish or chicken, vegetables and sauces and then fold together. The tortilla is a type of flatbread, an unleavened bread made from wheat flour or corn flour. It is one of the staples of Mexican cuisine. Tortillas come in different sizes. Those for tacos are 12 - 14 cm in diameter. Tacos are not large. For a full lunch, count on serving 3 tacos per person. A real taco is made with a soft tortilla and not one fried in the shape of a crescent.
What is carne asada?
Carne asada literally means roasted meat. Still, you must observe a few rules to make real, Mexican carne asada.
First, you always start with beef. Traditionally, you take skirt steak or flank steak. You can also use a sirloin steak or a short loin. The piece does not have to be thicker than 2 cm.
Second, you need to marinate the meat. You make the marinade from vegetable oil, lemon or lime juice, garlic and chili pepper. You can also add fresh cilantro. Allow 12 hours for the meat to marinate.
Third, grill the meat over charcoal to achieve the typical grilled flavor.
Carne asada tacos from Los Tacos N°1
Los Tacos N°1 shared the recipe for their carne asada tacos in one of the cookbooks published by Chelsea Market. I have adjusted the quantities in the recipe for 4 people. I also assume that you buy the tortillas and not make them yourself. Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients. The preparation is simple, and you can do a lot in advance.
Fresh, authentic Mexican corn tortillas can be purchased at Tortilleria Taiyari's website https://taiyari.nl/.
You'll need a barbecue and a handful of wood chips.
Ingredients for the meat
- ½ chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 clove of garlic, pressed
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- A pinch of chili pepper such as cayenne
- 800 g skirt steak, maximum 2 cm thick
Ingredients for the salsa ranchera
- ½ chopped onion
- 4 sprigs cilantro
- 1 dried chili de árbol or other red spicy chili
- 1 jalapeño chili
- 1 small clove of garlic
- 500 g tomatoes
- Salt
Ingredients for the avocado sauce
- 2 avocados
- 50 ml milk
- Salt
Ingredients for finishing
- 4 spring onions
- ½ tablespoon vegetable oil
- 5 sprigs cilantro
- 2 limes
- ½ cucumber
- 12 tortillas 12 - 14 cm diameter
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Preparation
Step 1: marinate the meat
Mix all the meat marinade ingredients together in a small mixing bowl. Place the meat in a Ziplock bag and add the marinade. Make sure the marinade is well distributed over the meat and place the meat in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
Step 2: prepare salsa ranchera
Remove the seeds from the chili peppers. Peel the tomatoes, cut them into four and remove the seeds. Finely chop the cilantro, chilis and garlic. You can use a blender to do this. Add in the tomatoes and grind to a chunky salsa. Pour the salsa into a serving bowl and let stand at room temperature.
![SG Taco Carne Asada 1053]()
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Step 3: make avocado sauce
Peel the avocados, remove the stone and cut them into chunks. Add the avocado pieces and milk to a blender. Blend to a puree that has the thickness of yogurt. Season to taste with salt. Pour the sauce into a serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Step 4: more mise-en-place
Clean the spring onions. Coarsely chop the 5 sprigs of cilantro. Cut the limes into 4 pieces and the cucumber into fine slices. Arrange the cilantro, lime and cucumber on a platter.
You can perform these first 4 steps up to 6 to 8 hours in advance.
![SG Taco Carne Asada 1097]()
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Step 5: the barbecue
Soak the wood chips in water for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the charcoal grill. If you are cooking with a gas barbecue, set it to 240°C. You will also need to place the wood chips in the smoking pan of the gas barbecue. Wait until the charcoal has a white layer of ash. Now sprinkle the wood chips on the coals and wait for them to start smoking.
Remove the meat from the Ziplock bag and pat dry. Grill the meat over the hot coal for about 3 minutes. Turn over, and grill for another 2 minutes or so. Remove the meat from the grill and let it rest on a cutting board.
Brush the spring onions with some oil and grill them on the barbecue as well.
Now that everything is ready, it's time to warm the tortillas. Do not place them on the grill for more than 1 minute; turn them over and continue to warm. The tortillas should remain flexible. Wrap the tortillas in a cloth and then place them in a basket. The hot steam will keep them soft.
Step 6: finishing
Cut the carne asada into fine strips and place them on a serving platter. Serve the tortillas, meat and spring onions with salsa, avocado sauce, lime, cucumber and cilantro. Now everyone can get to work! Fill your tortilla with just carne asada or con todo! Just fold it in half and you have pure enjoyment.
![SG Taco Carne Asada 1161]()
