Tacos Carne Asada

My husband and I went to Beertopia about 3 weeks ago and we bought Rib-eye tacos from the Brickhouse stall, they were THE BEST tacos I have ever had. In the past, I always turn down my husband’s request to have Mexican or Mexican-inspired food because the ones I have eaten in the Philippines were not tasty at all. Last April 18, I was craving for some Mexican food so I had Quesadillas for lunch at Mr. Taco Truck, really affordable! Since I was craving for more, I invited my husband to have Tacos and Quesadillas there for dinner! 🙂 We also tried to go to Brickhouse in Lan Kwai Fong but it was full house!:( One of these days, we will eat there and show you some pictures!:)

If you think that killed my cravings for Mexican food, you’re dead wrong! I craved for MORE!!! That’s why I searched for tacos recipe and found Tyler Florence’s Tacos Carne Asada Recipe from Food Network, I read the reviews and they were mostly positive so I went ahead and bought ingredients.

I had to work with what’s available here in HK. I could not find any Masa Harina, I attempted to make tortillas using Corn Flour and it was a failure. 😦 Good thing we had ready-made flour tortillas (Old El Paso). I would have bought corn tortillas from Mr Taco Truck but I forgot! Aiyaaaa!!! I would have to make this again with corn tortillas. (Still craving for MORE! Haha!).

Also, I could not find any regular limes so I used the Thai limes.

I made Mojo first so I could start marinating the flank steak. I chopped and/or minced jalapeño, cilantro and garlic then added salt & pepper and mashed them to make a paste.

Next, I added oil, vinegar, lime juice and orange juice.

I then added the 300g flank steak and marinated that for 7 hours.

We went to church then walked home so the beef could marinate longer. Haha!

I had my husband remove all green stuff sticking to the steak so it doesn’t burn and to grate cheddar cheese (I could not find any Mexican cheese here!:(). While he was doing that, I made pico de gallo. I chopped tomatoes, red onion, spring onion, cilantro and jalapeño, added oil into the bowl and mixed everything.

While waiting for the flavors of the pico de gallo to marry, I cooked the steak in a pan grill-4 minutes per side.

I took out the steak from the pan grill and placed it onto a chopping board, covered with foil to rest for about 5 minutes.

While waiting, I chopped a white onion.

After 5 minutes, I sliced the steak to strips, heated a tortilla in a pan, placed that onto a plate and started assembling the taco.

First, I placed steak then chopped white onion, cheese and finally the pico de gallo.

OK, I should have spread out everything and put more meat on there…Next time I will remember that!:)

Serve tacos with lime wedges.

My husband added dashes of hot pepper sauce because he loves spicy food. He loved the tacos and requested that I make them again!

Next time, I’ll try to make these with rib-eye, corn tortillas and Mexican cheese. 🙂

I hope you try this too, it tastes so fresh! We had pico de gallo leftover and I fried some galunggong (round scad), the combination was awesome! Kamayan na!

Tacos Carne Asada
Adapted from Food Network

• At least 6 tortillas
• Mojo (marinade for steak) -recipe below
• 300g Flank steak, grilled and sliced into strips
• 1 white onion, chopped
• Cheese, grated
• Pico de gallo -recipe below
• Lime wedges
• Hot pepper sauce (optional)

1. Marinate flank steak in mojo for at least 4 hours.
2. Make pico de gallo before grilling flank steak.
3. Remove any greens from the flank steak to avoid being burnt.
4. Pour some oil and spread onto steak and add salt and pepper.
5. Grill flank steak so it’s medium-rare. About 4 minutes per side over high heat.
6. Remove from grill and cover with foil and let it rest for 5 minutes.
7. Slice steak into strips.
8. Heat tortillas in a pan about 30 seconds per side.
9. On a plate, place tortillas then beef then onion then cheese and finally pico de gallo.
10. Serve with lime wedges and hot sauce.

Mojo:

• 4 garlic cloves, minced (I used a garlic press)
• 1 jalapeño, minced
• Handful of fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 orange, juiced
• 2 Tbsp white vinegar (I used Heinz)
• 1/2 cup olive oil

1. Combine garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, salt and pepper in a mortar to make a paste.
2. Combine juices of lime and orange, oil and vinegar in a bowl and mix in the paste.
3. Add flank steak and marinate for at least 4 hours.

Pico de gallo:

• 4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 jalapeño, minced
• Handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp salt

Combine everything in a bowl.

Makes 6 tacos