Carne asada is marinated and grilled skirt steak that is bursting with flavors or citrus, garlic, cilantro, and chile. Enjoy on its own, in tacos, etc.
Ingredients
For the Carne Asada:
¼cuporange juice(freshly squeezed preferred)
¼cuplime juice(freshly squeezed preferred)
2tbspolive oilor other neutral oil of choice
6largegarlic clovespeeled
1packed cupcilantro(you can include the stems along with the leaves)
½seeded jalapeno**(ends up being about 2 tbsp chopped)
1tspchili powder
1tspancho chili powder(or sub more chili powder)
½tspground cumin
¼tspground corianderoptional
2tspkosher salt
2.25lbsskirt steak*
Optional Ideas for Pairings:
soft corn taco shells(and feel free to garnish with cotija cheese, onion, tomato, etc.)
If you have a blender (or food processor): Combine all the ingredients except the skirt steak (the orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno, chili powder, ancho chili powder, cumin, coriander, and salt) in the blender jar. Blend for about 30 seconds on high speed, to puree the ingredients.
To make the marinade without a machine: You will combine all the ingredients except the skirt steak as well, but you will need to chop everything by hand. Mince the garlic and jalapeno as finely as you can, and finely chop the cilantro. I recommend only using the leaves in this case.
Prep the skirt steak: When you buy skirt steak from the butcher, it will likely come in long pieces over a foot long. I recommend cutting these into smaller pieces now, about 6" in length. Cut with the grain (see blog photo).
Marinate: Place the skirt steak in a plastic ziptop bag and add all of the marinade. Toss well to combine and make sure the steak is completely coated on all sides. Refrigerate for ideally 18-24 hours. I would say the bare minimum is 8 hours, but a day ahead is noticeably better.
Cook: Preheat at least two burners of the grill on high for 10 minutes, to get the temperature up to a minimum of 600F. In the meantime, remove the carne asada from the marinade and place on paper towels to absorb excess liquid. There shouldn't be a ton of excess marinade anyway, but I recommend discarding it. I have tried cooking it to serve along with the beef, but in my opinion it's completely unnecessary and does not add anything to the dish.
Once the grill is preheated, add all of the skirt steak and promptly close the lid. There should be no need to oil the grill or the meat here, so long as the grill has well-seasoned cast iron grates and is at least 600F. I personally don't have issues with sticking, and like to avoid oiling the meat to prevent flareups.
Let the skirt steak cook with the lid closed for 90 seconds, then open the lid, and turn each piece of steak 90 degrees. Close the lid and let cook for another 90 seconds.
Flip each piece of meat over and again close the lid for 90 seconds. Turn each pieces 90 degrees, and cook for another minute.
Begin checking the temperature of the steaks. Because skirt steak is chewy by nature, I like to serve it rare and pull it off the grill at 120F. The thinner pieces will likely be done, but if you have thicker pieces, they may need further cooking. Flip again, close the lid, and keep cooking in 90 second intervals, rechecking the internal temperature as needed.
Remove the skirt steak to a plate or rack, and let rest for 5 minutes. Then slice and serve promptly. Enjoy!
Notes
*Skirt steak is the most traditional meat used for carne asada, and it's personally my preference. I have also tested this recipe with flank steak and flap meat, which both work well too.**So long as you remove the seeds before blending, the marinade shouldn't be excessively spicy. You will mostly get the flavor of the jalapeno, which is delicious here. I use about half of a 3" long jalapeno.Scaling: This is enough marinade for 4 to 5lbs of skirt steak. Feel free to increase the amount of beef.Storing leftovers: Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.Reheating: First, I love eating it cold, straight out of the fridge. It reminds me of roast beef that you’d get from the deli, but more flavorful. But if you want to reheat, place in a 300F oven for 10 minutes, until warmed through, but still pink. Make sure you don’t cook the pink away.Freezing: Like most other beef recipes, this freezes well. After cooking, let the beef cool to room temperature (about 15 minutes), then store in an airtight container for up to 2 months.