Carne Asada Lorenza
Published Aug. 12, 2020
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ¼large white onion, for cleaning the grill
- Beef fat (cut from the meat, if fatty), tallow or vegetable oil, for greasing the grill
- 2pounds chuck roll, sliced into ½-inch steaks
- 2pounds top sirloin, sliced into ½-inch steaks
- 4teaspoons kosher or sea salt (about 1 teaspoon per pound of meat), or to taste, plus more for salting tortillas
- 12corn tortillas
- Frijoles de Fiesta (Fiesta Refried Beans) (see recipe)
- 12ounces asadero, quesadilla, Monterey Jack or Oaxaca cheese, grated (about 3 cups)
- Salsa Tatemada Norteña (Fire-Roasted Salsa) (see recipe)
- Chile Verde Guacamole (see recipe)
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Preparation
- Step 1
Start a charcoal or gas grill, and get it very hot. For gas, set to high heat. For charcoal, grill is ready when coals are red but entirely covered with gray ash, and you can hold your hand about 5 to 6 inches above the coals for only about 4 to 5 seconds before it becomes too hot.
- Step 2
Clean and season the grill: Using a pair of tongs, rub a quarter of a white onion over it. Next, rub the beef fat over the grill to season it further. (Alternately, you can do this using tallow or vegetable oil.)
- Step 3
Working in batches if needed to avoid crowding, place the meat over the hot grill. Season the meat generously with salt on top right before throwing it on the grill, salt-side up. (Alternatively, sprinkle the salt on top of the meat once it’s on the grill.)
- Step 4
Grill for 4 to 5 minutes, until the bottom has seared, deep grill marks have developed, and the meat juices have started rising and bubbling over the top. Flip to the second side and grill for another 3 to 4 minutes for medium. Remove the meat and place in a lidded dish or container. Cover the cooked meat while you grill the remainder. Allow the meat to rest for at least 5 minutes.
- Step 5
One by one, take out the pieces of meat and cut into about ½-inch dice, placing them back in the same lidded dish and covering until the meat has been chopped.
- Step 6
If using gas, reduce the heat of the grill to medium. Brush the corn tortillas with water and sprinkle or rub with salt to taste on both sides. Place on the grill — if using charcoal, place them over indirect heat — and let them toast for about 2 to 3 minutes per side, depending on how hot the grill is, until lightly browned and crisped on both sides.
- Step 7
Remove the crisp tortillas from the grill, slather each one with a couple tablespoons of refried beans on one side and cover the beans with ¼ cup shredded cheese.
- Step 8
Place them back on the grill, cheese-side up, and cook until cheese has completely melted and corn tortillas have browned darker and crisped further, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the grill, place on a platter, top with a generous amount of diced meat and bring to the table. Let your guests top with salsa and guacamole to their liking.
Private Notes
Comments
Patí Jinich's recipes are simply excellent. Kudos to NYT for inviting her into this venue, finally.
Well, top sirloin and skirt steak are a long way from the same thing, and carne asada is made with skirt steak. It is the diaphragm of the animal, is very thin, and stringy, but when marinated properly and grilled, is magnificently flavorful. The stringiness is unimportant when the meat is grilled properly and sliced very thin across the grain.
Carne Asada is made from any piece of the cow you choose to grill. It literally means "Grilled Meat"
Delicious even without making all components from scratch….I bought good quality refried beans, guac & salsa.
Made everything in this recipe when my adult children and grandchildren came to visit last year. It is a multi-day effort but well worth it. Such a hit it’s been requested for this year’s visit. Love Pati Jinich and bought her cookbook.
If one makes all three components (4 with guacamole) , it’s pretty much an all day exercise. My family liked the results but they, collectively, had a few suggestions. Use pre-crisped tortillas, use skirt steak and chop more finely, and drain the salsa. I don’t know about the tortillas, but otherwise I’d agree with them.
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