Authentic Carne Asada Tacos

Authentic Carne Asada Tacos

Source: Isamar V.

My good friend, Isamar, showed me how to make authentic carne asada the way her family does it. We went to the Mexican market and she put me to work with her molcajete and tejolete {mortar and pestle}. Her carne asada is so delicious! My husband and I ate it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until the leftovers were all gone. ;0) I broke down this recipe into 3 easy parts...

Part 1 - Green Sauce:

The carne asada cooks real fast on the grill, so I make the red and green sauce before I start grilling the meat. If you want your sauce hotter, then try adding 1 more green chili. Just 1 chili makes a noticeable difference. Or if you made your sauce a little too hot for your liking... add more meat to your taco. Haha... this helps too. Your hot sauce will turn out a little different every time you make it. This ratio makes a mild to medium hot sauce. You can grind the green sauce in the molcajete too if you prefer it to be more chunky. I like my green sauce more runny than the red, so I throw these ingredients in the blender.

Ingredients:

7 tomatillos, use all varieties in size
5 fresh hot green chilies
salt and pepper, to taste


Preparation:

Husk and rinse tomatillos. Break stems off tomatillos and the green chilies. Place all ingredients in a large pot, add enough water to cover; boil on high until tomatillos are light green and brownish in color. {If you're making green and red sauce, boil all 14 tomatillos for both recipes.} In a blender, add 7 cooked tomatillos and 5 cooked green chilies; blend to desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste; pour into a serving dish.

About 30 servings


Part 2 - Red Sauce:

I put a dark t-shirt over my clothes when I grind up the red sauce in the molcajete cause I splash a little juice on the front of me... Probably because I don't have the proper technique down yet. Isamar laughs at me. :) If you want your sauce more hot, then try adding 5 more chili pods. Just 5 extra goes a long way. This ratio makes a mild to medium hot sauce.

Ingredients:

7 tomatillos, use all varieties in size
15 arbol chili pods
salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Husk tomatillos; break stems off and rinse. Place in a large pot, add enough water to cover tomatillos; boil on high until light green and brownish in color. Meanwhile, break the stems off each chili pod. Place pods in tin foil; fold all 4 sides on top to close. Heat packet on skillet over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, turning once. Grind up chili pods in molcajete; add a little water as needed so chilies are soft to smash. Add cooked tomatillos to molcajete; smash all together to desired chunkiness. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve from molcajete with a spoon.

About 30 servings



Part 3 - Carne Asada:

I prefer using marinaded beef flap found at the Mexican market over flank steaks for carne asada. Beef flap is cut much much thinner at the Mexican markets, and I love that you can buy it already marinaded {or not} for no extra cost. The non-marinated beef flap works too!

Ingredients:

5 pounds ranchera preparada {marinaded beef flap}
garlic salt, to taste
lime juice
5 small to medium yellow onions, quartered
2 (16-ounce) packages yellow or white corn tortillas

Preparation:

Place quartered onions in tin foil; fold all 4 sides on top to close. Cook on grill over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, turning once. On a dinner plate, stack slabs of beef flap; sprinkle each slab of meat with garlic salt and drops of lime juice on each side as you stack them. Grill meat {also on medium heat} for 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Heat tortillas on skillet over medium heat for about 4 minutes, turning once. Pull apart cooked meat and onions with fingers into thin strips. Place meat, onions, and a little hot sauce on your tortilla and enjoy! If you prefer... add refried beans to your taco and garnish with sliced lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, and shredded cheese.

Makes about 50 tacos