Charred carne asada. Chopped white onions. Cilantro. Corn tortilla. Rolled tightly into a little aluminum foil bundle of happiness. Occasionally your tinfoil bundle might leak a little of the delicious steak juice as you peel it open, but you don’t mind. That just means it’s about to taste REALLY GOOD. If you’re from Los Angeles, you probably grew up on these simple street tacos, like I did.
On some weekends my dad would take me for a quick lunch to a tiny taco shop in a strip mall in North Hollywood next to a laundromat. From the outside it didn’t look like much, but it was something special. As soon as you opened the door you could hear the horns of the traditional Mexican music blasting and smell all of the deliciousness. If you peaked around the corner you could see a woman pressing fresh corn tortillas. I would always watch her work as my dad ordered. These tacos were the real deal.
Simple street tacos are great because you don’t need much to put them together. If you have flavorful juicy carne asada, you can almost just eat that alone on the tortilla and be satisfied. When I make my own carne asada at home I usually will grill whole green onions to eat along side it. Sometimes I will eat it in a taco with guacamole. And sometimes I will layer it with gooey melted queso chihuahua for the best steak quesadilla of all time. You really can’t go wrong.
The trick to delicious carne asada is a salty and acidic marinade. My carne asada recipe uses lime juice, orange juice, and white vinegar which all help tenderize the meat and give it a delicious flavor. Be careful not to let the marinade sit on the meat for more than 8 hours, because the acid will start to work against you and the meat will become mushy. No one likes mushy steak. Follow the recipe and you will have mouthwatering charred carne asada that is both crispy on the outside and perfectly tender for tacos! ARRIBA! ARRIBA!
Let’s get started!
STEP 1: Make dat marinade. In a glass baking dish whisk together all the ingredients of the steak marinade.
STEP 2: Saturate dat steak. Combine marinade with the steak. Trim down your pieces if they are too long to fit into the dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but no longer than 8 hours. After 8 hours the acid in the marinade will start to work against your steak.
STEP 3: Let me see ya grill. Preheat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium-high. Grill the steaks for 6 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove steaks and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
STEP 4: Chop, lock, and drop it. Slice the steak against the grain and serve.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs skirt steak
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 3 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- 2 limes juiced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 jalapeno seeded and chopped
Instructions
- In a large bowl whisk together all the ingredients of the steak marinade.
- Combine with steak in a large glass baking dish.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but no longer than 8 hours.
- Preheat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium-high. Grill the steaks for 6 minutes per side for medium rare.
- Remove steaks and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
- Slice against the grain and serve.