Robin: Though you’ll often see recipes for carne asada that call for skirt or flank steak that is grilled and then sliced against the grain of the meat into succulent strips of goodness, that´s not what this recipe is about.
This is a little humbler—though no less delicious!—style of carne asada, made with thinly sliced beef that has no obvious “grain” and is not sliced after grilling. This meat can be taken off the grill and placed right into a hot tortilla to make a taco de carne asado, so the steak ends up being “cut” directly by your teeth! It can all be done equally well on a fancy urban charcoal grill or over a primitive scavenged-wood campfire.
I remember my own introduction to this style of eating. As a teenaged exchange student in northern Mexico, I was part of a group of young people on a day-long excursion in the Sonoran wilderness in the early 1980s. To be honest, I don’t even recall what exactly we were out there doing, but I remember well what and how we ate. A small campfire was cobbled together, and a rickety grill was balanced over the flames. A couple of the more experienced group members tended to the cooking, squatting down over their boots, while the rest of us stood around (there was no place to sit) and eagerly awaited the first bite of this boondocks bonanza.
The steaks were thin enough that it didn’t take very long for the meat to be cooked through, and the resulting tacos were topped with strips of cactus that had been grilled alongside the meat. Grilled cambray onions and freshly-squeezed lime juice provided the perfect final touches to the repast. It didn’t matter that we had no plates and had to eat standing up; in fact, I don’t think any of us even gave that a thought as we bit into the sublime deliciousness in our hands. The fresh air, jovial companions, and delectably-cooked simple food made for a most excellent feast.
Flour tortillas were used that day, since this took place in northern Mexico, where wheat is much more plentiful than maize. I later spent 20+ years in the central part of that country, however, and now prefer the earthiness of corn tortillas—but this carne asada is exquisite with either kind. Grilling cactus pads and onions along with the meat is optional, but I highly recommend it, since they turn meat and tortillas into a whole meal and greatly add to the flavor and texture experience. (See the notes in the recipe itself that give info about these ingredients.)
Lastly, use of the marinade here can be a hotly contested issue—some people are all for it, while others think a marinade just takes away from the flavor of the meat itself and prefer to use salt and lime juice (sprinkled over the cooked meat) as their only condiments. (At the cookout described above, no marinade was used—and it was not missed.) Still others might opt for a different marinade, such as one containing beer, soy sauce, or bitter orange juice. When you grill your carne asada, you make it however hits your fancy at the time. You can always change it up the next time, if you wish.
Rustic Campfire-style Mexican Carne Asada
Ingredients
For the marinade (optional):
- ÂĽ cup vegetable oil
- ÂĽ cup freshly-squeezed lime juice
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon of ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the grill:
- 2 to 2 ½ pounds (1 kilo) thinly sliced beef chuck or sirloin steak (slice thickness should be 1 centimeter or less)
- 6 fresh nopal cactus pads thorns removed
- 2 bunches of cambray onions
For serving:
- 12 corn or flour tortillas
- 6 juicy Mexican limes sliced in half or in quarters
- Mexican table sauce of your choice
Instructions
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Prepare the marinade (if using): Mix together ÂĽ cup vegetable oil, lime juice, minced garlic, cumin, pepper and salt.
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Pour the marinade into a non-reactive glass or stainless steel bowl. Dip each one of the steaks into the marinade, making sure that both sides are coated with marinade mix. Prick each one all over with a fork. Stack the steaks into another non-reactive dish and pour any remaining marinade in over them. Cover the dish and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Drain steaks right before grilling; discard marinade.
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Prepare the onions and cactus: Wash the onions and remove the roots. Leave the green parts whole or trim them, leaving at 5 inches to facilitate moving them onto and off the grill. Rinse and drain the cactus pads. With a sharp knife make three long cuts about ¾ of the way down each one in such a way as to form four “legs” that will fan out a bit but without tearing the pad apart; this will allow the heat to reach the inside of the cactus to cook it.
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Grill your food: Heat the grill and place the steaks, cactus pads, and onions directly over the heat. With a brush or a spoon, spread a little vegetable oil over each cactus piece and onion help them cook without burning. Grill the meat and vegetables over moderate heat, turning when needed; remove when cooked and slightly charred to taste. (Cactus pads are cooked when they changed from their original bright green to a dull olive green in color.) As the individual pieces of meat and vegetables finish grilling, place them on a platter and keep warm. Once everything’s cooked, take your platter to the table.
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Assemble your tacos: Heat your tortillas and place a piece of meat and a “leg” (strip) or two of cactus into each one. (Pull the steaks apart with your hands or with two forks if they are bigger than what you need.) Serve with the table sauce of your choice and the cut limes for each person to squeeze directly on to the meat as desired. Eat the onions with your hands as a side (also sprinkled with lime and salt, if desired); bite off and consume the bulbous white end, leaving the long green parts on your plate to discard or to save for another use.
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Refrigerate any leftovers, then reheat in the microwave when you`re ready to enjoy them again. Leftover cactus is delicious as a vegetable side dish or chopped and stirred into scrambled eggs, soup, or a saucy entree.
Recipe Notes
Nopal cactus pads (or “paddles”) can be purchased from most Hispanic grocery stores and at some larger mainstream supermarkets. If you can find the ones that have had their thorns removed, they are much more convenient. If not, remove the thorns as follows: Work slowly with a very sharp paring knife in a scraping motion to cut the thorns off the cactus flesh. Don’t “peel” the cactus; rather, just cut away the individual thorns. A little of the cactus “skin” will get cut off with each thorn, and that is fine. Rinse each pad in water after you have cleaned it.
Cambray (or Chambray) onions, also called Mexican spring onions, are the scallions or spring onions that you may already be familiar with, but they’ve been left to grow until a definite round bulb has formed on the white end. Their flavor is a bit milder and sweeter than that of less mature spring onions, making them the perfect choice for eating grilled.
Mexican limes, also called key limes, are the small round limes used in Latin America and the Caribbean. Don´t substitute Persian limes (the larger, oblong ones that look like green lemons), because their flaver is not the same. Read more about Mexican limes.
More good grub for your cook-out:
Sensational Summertime Sweetness:
More with beef:
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