Tacos de Carne Asada Sonorenses

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Charcoal grill with a heavy grate, large enough to hold meat and vegetables at once
• •Mesquite chimney starter
• •Long-handled tongs
• •Heavy wooden cutting board for chopping the carne
• •Sharp chef's knife or cleaver
• •Cotton servilleta for wrapping the warm tortillas

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the diezmillo

   This is a Sonora taco and Sonora is cattle country. Use diezmillo, the cut from the chuck flap or top blade. Skirt or flank are city substitutions. Diezmillo has the marbling and the grain that holds up over hard mesquite heat. Have your butcher slice it half an inch thick across the grain. No me vengas con atajos. The wrong cut gives you the wrong taco.

   If your butcher does not know diezmillo, ask for chuck flap or for the cut they use for cecina or arrachera. Sonora ranchers cut their own. You can too.
2. 2

   Marinate briefly

   Whisk the naranja agria juice, soy sauce, smashed garlic, salt, and pepper in a wide dish. Lay the diezmillo in a single layer, turning to coat. Marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature. Not longer. The acid in the sour orange will start to cure the meat after an hour and you will have something closer to ceviche than asada. The marinade in Sonora is light. The flavor comes from the mesquite, not the bath.

3. 3

   Build the mesquite fire

   Light the mesquite charcoal in a chimney or directly in the grill. Mesquite is the cooking fuel of the Sonoran desert and it burns hotter and faster than oak or hickory. Wait until the coals are covered in white ash and you cannot hold your hand six inches above the grate for more than two seconds. This is high heat cooking. The fire is the recipe.

4. 4

   Grill the cebollitas and chiles

   While the meat is still in the marinade, lay the cebollitas and the whole chiles guero directly on the grate over the hottest part of the fire. Turn them with tongs until the bulbs are tender and charred and the chiles are blistered black in patches and softened, about 6 to 8 minutes. Pull them off and squeeze a little lime over them. They go to the table whole. Each diner takes one cebollita and one chile per taco. That is the Sonora way.

5. 5

   Grill the carne hard and fast

   Lift the diezmillo from the marinade and let the excess drip off. Lay the slices flat on the hottest part of the grate. Listen for the sound. If the grill is hot enough, you will hear a sharp hiss the moment the meat lands. Grill 90 seconds to two minutes per side, no more. You want a hard char on the outside and pink at the center. Carne asada is not pot roast. If you cook it to gray, you have ruined a piece of beef and disrespected the cow.

   Do not press the meat with a spatula. Pressing pushes the juice out. The juice belongs in the taco, not in the fire.
6. 6

   Warm the tortillas on the grill

   While the meat rests, lay the flour tortillas directly on the grate, two or three at a time. Ten seconds per side. They will char in spots and puff slightly. The flour tortilla is a Noroeste birthright, not a Tex-Mex shortcut, and the small handmade ones are the highest expression of that tradition. Wrap them in a clean cotton servilleta as they come off the grill so they stay soft.

7. 7

   Chop the meat fine on the board

   Let the carne rest for three minutes on a wooden cutting board. Then chop it fine with a heavy knife, working through both directions until the pieces are about the size of your pinky nail. Chopping releases the juices into the wood and concentrates the flavor of the char. The board will look like a Sonora taqueria cutting board: stained, fragrant, alive.

8. 8

   Build the tacos at the table

   Pile the chopped carne in the center of a wooden board with the cebollitas and chiles guero alongside. Set the wrapped flour tortillas, lime wedges, salsa verde tatemada, salsa de chiltepin, frijoles, and guacamole around it. Each diner builds their own: a small flour tortilla, a generous spoon of carne, a piece of grilled cebollita, a bite of chile guero, a squeeze of lime, the salsa they like. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •The mesquite is non-negotiable. If you cannot find mesquite charcoal or wood, use a hardwood lump charcoal and add dried mesquite chips, but understand that you are making a compromise, not a substitution. Sonora carne asada without mesquite is just grilled beef.
• •The marinade is light on purpose. Skip the cumin, the chile powder, the dried oregano, the lime by the cup that gringo recipes pile on. Sonorenses do not marinate the flavor in. They grill the flavor in. La cocina no es decoracion, es trabajo.
• •The flour tortillas must be small and handmade. The factory tortillas in plastic bags are not the same animal. Find a Mexican tortilleria that makes them by hand, or learn to make them yourself with manteca, never with vegetable shortening. The lard is the texture.
• •Salsa de chiltepin is the Sonora salsa. The wild chiltepin grows on the slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidental and the salsa is hot, dry, and direct. If you can find dried chiltepines, make a simple salsa with them, garlic, salt, and a little vinegar. It belongs on this table.

Advance Preparation

• •The marinade can be mixed up to one day ahead and refrigerated. Add the meat no more than 30 minutes before grilling.
• •The flour tortillas can be made earlier in the day, kept covered with a damp cotton cloth, and warmed on the grill at the moment of service.
• •Salsa de chiltepin and salsa verde tatemada can be made one to two days ahead. The flavor of the chiltepin actually improves overnight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 300g)