Mexican Street Tacos (San Diego style)
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Tacos:
- 16 street taco size corn tortillas
- 2 lb skirt steak, trimmed
Marinade:
- 1 can beer, lager style
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 lime, juiced, then sliced
- 1 orange juiced, then sliced
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Topping:
- 1 medium sweet onion, finely diced
- 1 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 cup restaurant-style salsa
- 1 cup radishes sliced into thin strips
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and whisk together. Once orange and lime have been squeezed, slice them both and drop them in the marinade. Transfer marinade to a sealable plastic bag.
- Using a jaccard or fork, pierce the surface of the steak and add it to the bag. Remove as much air as possible and massage to ensure the meat is completely covered in marinade. Place the bag on a plate and put it in the refrigerator for at least four hours but preferably 24 hours. Flip bag occasionally to ensure even coating in marinade.
- Remove meat from marinade and blot dry with a paper towel. Allow meat to come up to room temperature while you prepare your grill. Discard the marinade.
- Light grill and set up for direct high heat, getting coals as close to the cooking grate as possible to ensure the best searing of the meat.
- Place meat directly over hot coals and grill for a total of 8 minutes, flipping every 2 minutes.
- Remove the meat from the grill and let it rest for 5 minutes. While the meat is resting, warm the tortillas by placing them on indirect heat of the grill. (you can also warm in microwave if needed, 15-20 seconds)
- Place a double tortilla in a taco holder or on a plate. Slice steak across the grain and into small bite sized pieces.
- Place steak in tortillas, dress with onion, cilantro, radish and salsa. Serve with favorite sides, like these pinto beans from scratch.
Notes
I’ve seen all kinds of meat used for this. Flap meat and flank steak are two very popular options. But the authentic carne asada from my favorite hole-in-the-wall in San Diego always used skirt steak. So, that’s what I’m using here. A quick call to my friends at Omaha Steaks and I had some amazing outside skirt at my door in no time. For those that are curious, there are TWO different kinds of skirt steak. I’m generally a medium rare kind of guy, but for these street tacos I recommend taking the steak to a good solid medium: 140 degrees or so internal. To determine this, be sure you have a reliable quick read thermometer on hand. You don’t want to see too much pink on these tacos, and the extra time on the grill gives the flavors a chance to really caramelize together to form that perfect crust that makes these tacos so delicious. I like doing these on the grill, but if that’s not available to you a screaming hot cast iron skillet will work as well.