Carne Asada

Name: Carne Asada
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 4 servings personer
Cuisine: mexican
Ingredients: 700 g flank steak, in one whole piece; 1½ dl lime juice, freshly squeezed; 1 dl orange juice, freshly squeezed; 6 clove garlic, crushed; 2 tbsp neutral oil; 2 tsp coarse salt; 1 tsp black pepper, coarsely ground; 5 pcs plum tomatoes, ripe; 2 pcs serrano chile; 2 clove garlic, unpeeled; ½ tsp coarse salt; 8 pcs scallions, trimmed, with the green tops left on; 1 tbsp neutral oil; ½ tsp coarse salt; 16 pcs corn tortillas, small, about 12 cm; 1 pcs onion, finely chopped; 1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped; 2 pcs lime, cut into wedges

Northern Mexican grilled flank steak marinated in lime and orange, chopped into cubes after grilling and served with a charred tomato-serrano salsa.

🍽️ 4 servings personer⏱️ 1 h 40 min (50 min active)mexican

While the flank steak sits briefly in the citrus marinade, make the rustic, smoky salsa and get the onion-cilantro mixture ready. Let the coals burn down to an even heat, grill the scallions first and then the meat, while the tortillas are only warmed at the end. The key to tender carne asada is cutting it against the grain.

Ingredients

The meat and marinade

700 g flank steak, in one whole piece
1½ dl lime juice, freshly squeezed
1 dl orange juice, freshly squeezed
6 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp neutral oil
2 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp black pepper, coarsely ground

The salsa

5 pcs plum tomatoes, ripe
2 pcs serrano chile
2 clove garlic, unpeeled
½ tsp coarse salt

The scallions

8 pcs scallions, trimmed, with the green tops left on
1 tbsp neutral oil
½ tsp coarse salt

To serve

16 pcs corn tortillas, small, about 12 cm
1 pcs onion, finely chopped
1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
2 pcs lime, cut into wedges

How to make it

Stir the lime juice and orange juice together with the crushed garlic, oil, salt, and coarsely ground pepper. Whisk briefly, until the marinade is slightly cloudy and the salt has dissolved.
Place the flank steak in a dish and pour the marinade over it. Turn the meat a couple of times so both sides are wet all the way to the edge. Cover the dish and refrigerate for three hours and no longer, since the lime acid will make the outermost millimeters mealy if the meat sits too long (see Advance Prep).
Place the plum tomatoes, serrano chiles, and unpeeled garlic cloves in a dry skillet over high heat. Turn them regularly for 10-12 minutes, until the skins are blistered and black in large patches and the aroma turns sweet and smoky. ⏱ 10 min
Peel the toasted garlic cloves and pound them in a mortar with the salt to a coarse paste. Add the chiles and then the tomatoes a little at a time, and keep pounding for a total of 5 minutes to a rustic, wet salsa where you can still see bits of charred tomato skin.
Combine the finely chopped onion and roughly chopped cilantro in a small bowl, and set it aside for the table.
Light the charcoal grill and let the coals burn down for 25 minutes, until they're covered with an even layer of white ash and you can only hold your hand over the grate for two seconds. ⏱ 25 min · passive
Chef's tip White ash means the coals have burned off their volatile smoke; grilling over black, still-flaming coals leaves an acrid taste. The two-second hand test corresponds to roughly 230°C at the grate — hot enough to char before the inside overcooks.
Take the meat out of the marinade and pat it completely dry with paper towels, since a wet surface will steam instead of char. Discard the marinade. Let the meat come to room temperature on the counter for 20 minutes while the coals finish getting ready. ⏱ 20 min · passive
Chef's tip Surface water must boil off before the meat can pass 100°C and brown, and that stolen time overcooks a thin cut. The steak should look matte, not glossy, when it hits the grate.
Brush the scallions with the oil and sprinkle the salt over them. Place them on the cooler side of the grate and turn them regularly for 8-10 minutes, until they're soft all the way into the white part and have dark, charred stripes. ⏱ 8 min–10 min
Chef's tip The green tops burn in seconds over direct coals — let them hang out over the edge of the hot zone while the white part sits in toward the heat.
Place the patted-dry meat directly over the glowing coals and grill it for 6-8 minutes total, turning once halfway through. It's ready when the surface is charred dark in stripes and the meat still feels springy under your finger — flank steak is a whole cut of beef and can be pink in the middle.
Chef's tip Flank is lean and thin — it goes from springy to firm in about a minute. Pull it at 52-55°C for medium-rare; firm resistance under the finger means it's already past.
Move the meat to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes, so the juices pull back into the fibers instead of running out onto the board. ⏱ 5 min · passive
Warm the corn tortillas on the grate for 2 minutes, turning a couple of times, until they're soft and have small dark spots. Stack them in a clean kitchen towel so they stay warm and pliable.
Cut the rested meat into thin slices against the grain and then chop the slices into rough cubes of about 1 cm. It's the cut against the grain that makes the meat tender to bite into.
Chef's tip Flank has long, visible muscle fibres running one way; slicing across them shortens each fibre to a few millimetres so your teeth don't have to. Find the grain before you cut — it can shift direction along the cut.
Place the meat on a wooden board with the grilled scallions and lime wedges alongside. Set the salsa, onion-cilantro mixture, and warm tortillas on the table, and let everyone build their own taco: meat in a tortilla, a spoonful of salsa, a little onion and cilantro, and a squeeze of lime at the end.