Tacos de Tasajo del Pasillo de Humo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Charcoal grill with grate (or cast iron comal for stovetop)
• •Volcanic stone molcajete and tejolote
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan for curing the beef
• •Sharp slicing knife or access to a butcher's deli slicer
• •Long-handled tongs for the grill
• •Cloth-lined basket or clean kitchen towel for tortillas

Instructions

1. 1

   Salt and dry the beef

   Lay the sliced beef out flat on a wire rack set over a sheet pan. The slices should be thin enough to read a newspaper through, about 1/8 inch. If your butcher won't cut them that thin, freeze the beef for 30 minutes and slice it yourself with the sharpest knife you own. Salt both sides generously with the 2 tablespoons of kosher salt, pressing it into the surface with your palm. Refrigerate uncovered for at least 4 hours, overnight is better. The salt pulls moisture out and firms the flesh. When the surface feels tacky and slightly dry to the touch, the tasajo is ready. This is not jerky. You're not dehydrating it. You're concentrating the beef flavor and giving the surface enough texture to handle a hot grill without falling apart.

   In Oaxaca, tasajo is sliced from the pierna (leg) in one continuous sheet, opened flat like unfolding a letter. At home, individual thin slices work fine. The key is even thickness so every piece grills at the same rate.
2. 2

   Char the salsa ingredients

   Heat a dry comal or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Place the chile pasilla oaxaqueño on the comal and press them flat with a spatula. Toast each one for about 20 seconds per side, until the skin blisters and the smoke intensifies. These chiles are already smoked, so you are adding char, not raw toasting. Set them aside. Place the tomatillos and unpeeled garlic on the same hot comal. Let the tomatillos blacken on one side, about 4 minutes, then flip. The garlic takes about 8 minutes, turning occasionally, until the papery skin is charred and the inside is soft. The kitchen will smell like a Oaxacan market. That's how you know you're doing it right.

   Chile pasilla oaxaqueño is already smoke-dried, so it chars fast. Watch it. Twenty seconds is enough. Burned smoked chile turns acrid and there is no fixing it.
3. 3

   Grind the salsa in the molcajete

   Stem the charred chiles and tear them into pieces. Do not seed them unless you want a tame salsa, and nobody at the Pasillo de Humo makes a tame salsa. Peel the garlic. Drop the garlic and a teaspoon of salt into the molcajete and grind to a paste. Add the chile pieces a few at a time, grinding and scraping until you have a rough, dark paste with visible flecks of charred skin. Add the blackened tomatillos and crush them into the chile paste, working the tejolote in circles until the salsa comes together. It should be thick, smoky, and slightly coarse, not smooth. If it's too thick to move, add a tablespoon or two of water. Taste it. Adjust the salt. This salsa should hit you with smoke first, then heat, then the acidity of the tomatillo.

   A blender will make this salsa, but it will make a different salsa. The molcajete crushes the fibers instead of shearing them, and you taste the difference. The texture should be rough, not pureed. If you must use a blender, pulse it, never let it run smooth.
4. 4

   Prepare the charcoal grill

   Light a charcoal chimney and let the coals burn until they are covered in white ash and glowing orange, about 25 minutes. Spread them in a single layer for direct high heat. The grate should be close to the coals, no more than 3 inches. You want aggressive, direct heat. This is how the grilleras at the Pasillo de Humo work: coals close, heat high, cook fast. If you are using a cast iron comal or a heavy skillet on the stovetop, heat it over the highest flame you have until a drop of water vaporizes on contact. It won't be the same as charcoal, but the technique holds.

   Mesquite charcoal or hardwood lump charcoal is what the vendors in Oaxaca use. Briquettes will work but they won't give you that clean wood-smoke flavor. If you have access to mesquite, use it.
5. 5

   Grill the cebollitas

   Toss the trimmed spring onions with the tablespoon of lard or oil and a pinch of salt. Lay them across the grill grate perpendicular to the bars so they don't fall through. Grill for about 3 minutes per side, until the bulbs are softened and the green tops are wilted and charred in spots. Pull them off and set aside. They'll go on the table whole, next to the salsa and the lime.

6. 6

   Grill the tasajo

   Pull the salted beef from the refrigerator 15 minutes before grilling. Pat off any excess moisture with a clean towel, but do not rinse off the salt. The salt is part of the flavor. Lay the slices directly on the hot grill grate in a single layer, working in batches if your grill is small. Do not move them. Let the heat do the work. After 60 to 90 seconds, the edges will curl slightly and the underside will have dark grill marks. Flip once. Another 60 seconds on the second side. The interior should still be slightly pink for slices this thin. Pull them off immediately. Tasajo cooks in minutes, not in any amount of time that allows you to walk away from the grill.

   The grilleras at the market never leave the grill. They flip with tongs in one continuous rhythm. If your slices are properly thin and the fire is properly hot, the whole batch is done in five minutes.
7. 7

   Warm the tortillas and serve

   While the last batch of tasajo is on the grill, warm your tortillas directly on the comal or on the grill grate for about 20 seconds per side, just until they puff and show a few brown spots. Stack them in a cloth-lined basket or wrap in a clean kitchen towel. Pile the grilled tasajo on a clay plate or wooden cutting board. Set the molcajete of salsa de pasilla oaxaqueño on the table alongside the charred cebollitas, lime wedges, and sliced radishes. Each person tears their own meat, builds their own taco, and spoons as much salsa as they can handle. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Chile pasilla oaxaqueño is not the same as chile pasilla negro. The pasilla negro is air-dried and has a raisin-like sweetness. The pasilla oaxaqueño is smoke-dried over wood in the Sierra Mixe, and the smoke is the whole point. If your chile vendor doesn't know the difference, find a different vendor. Online, look for Oaxacan specialty suppliers. There is no substitution that works. A chipotle is smoked but it is a different chile with a different flavor. Use pasilla oaxaqueño or make a different salsa.
• •Ask your butcher to slice the beef on the deli slicer at 1/8 inch, against the grain. If they look at you like you're strange, tell them it's for tasajo. A Mexican carniceria will know exactly what you mean. If you're slicing at home, 30 minutes in the freezer firms the meat enough to get even cuts with a sharp knife.
• •Charcoal is not optional for the full Pasillo de Humo flavor. A gas grill will cook the meat. A cast iron comal will sear it. But the smokiness that defines the dish comes from fat dripping onto hot coals and that smoke rising back into the beef. If you have a charcoal grill, use it. Asi se hace y punto.
• •The salted beef will taste salty on its own. That is correct. Inside a tortilla with salsa, lime, and a bite of charred cebollita, the salt balances. Do not reduce the cure. The whole point of tasajo is the concentration of flavor that the salt creates.

Advance Preparation

• •The tasajo must be salted and dried at least 4 hours ahead, overnight in the refrigerator uncovered is ideal. This step cannot be rushed. The salt needs time to work the surface of the beef.
• •The salsa de pasilla oaxaqueño can be made up to 3 hours ahead and held at room temperature in the molcajete. It does not improve with age the way a cooked salsa does, but it holds well for an afternoon.
• •The cebollitas can be grilled up to 30 minutes ahead and held at room temperature. They are good warm or at room temperature. Do not refrigerate them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 310g)