Tasajo Veracruzano de Tlapacoyan

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Long sharp slicing knife or a butcher who will cut the beef properly
• •Glass or ceramic dish for the salt cure
• •Wire racks set over sheet pans for drying
• •Mesh screen for a short protected sun finish
• •Dry comal for chiles, tortillas, and quick indoor cooking
• •Clay cazuela or heavy pot for black beans

Instructions

1. 1

   Slice the beef

   Partially freeze the beef for 30 minutes so the knife behaves. Slice with the grain into long strips about 1/4 inch thick. Pound gently with the flat side of a meat mallet until the strips are even, not torn. Tasajo needs surface area for the salt and drying air. Thick pieces cure unevenly and grill like steak. That is not this dish.

2. 2

   Salt the tasajo

   Mix the sal de grano, garlic paste, cracked pepper, and dried Mexican oregano. Rub this mixture into both sides of every beef strip, working it into the edges. Stack the meat in a glass or ceramic dish, cover, and refrigerate 10 to 12 hours. This is a short cure, not shelf-stable preservation. Respect the cold.

   Measure the salt. The señoras who have done this for forty years can use their hand. You cannot, not yet.
3. 3

   Dry the beef

   Wipe off excess surface moisture without washing away the cure. Lay the strips on wire racks set over sheet pans and refrigerate uncovered for 16 to 18 hours, turning once. The surface should darken and feel tacky-dry, not wet. If you have clean, dry midday sun, set the racks outside under a mesh cover for 1 hour before grilling, then cook immediately. If the day is humid, skip the patio. Veracruz cooks know the weather. You should too.

4. 4

   Cook the black beans

   Place the black beans in a heavy pot with the half onion, 3 garlic cloves, and enough water to cover by 3 inches. Simmer gently until tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on the age of the beans. Add the epazote and salt during the last 20 minutes. When the beans are tender, melt 2 tablespoons manteca de cerdo in a clay cazuela or heavy skillet, add two cups of beans with some broth, and simmer until glossy and thick. Frijoles negros, not pinto. This is Veracruz.

5. 5

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile ancho and chile chipotle seco separately, pressing them flat for a few seconds per side until fragrant and slightly pliable. Do not blacken them. Ancho gives dark fruit and body. Chipotle seco gives smoke and heat. Burn either one and your salsa will punish you.

6. 6

   Roast and blend

   On the same comal, roast the jitomates de bola, onion, and unpeeled garlic until the tomatoes slump and the garlic softens. Soak the toasted chiles in hot water for 15 minutes, then drain. Peel the garlic. Blend the chiles, roasted tomatoes, onion, garlic, torn hoja santa, and 1 teaspoon sal de grano until thick and mostly smooth. The acuyo should perfume the salsa, not turn it medicinal.

7. 7

   Fry the salsa

   Melt 1 tablespoon manteca de cerdo in a small cazuela over medium heat. Add the blended salsa carefully. It will sputter. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the color deepens to brick red and the fat glistens at the edge. La manteca es el sabor. Raw blender salsa on cured beef tastes unfinished.

8. 8

   Grill the tasajo

   Prepare a wood or charcoal fire and let it burn down to steady coals. Guava, citrus, or encino wood is good if you have it. Brush the dried beef lightly with melted manteca and a few drops of naranja agria juice. Grill 2 to 3 minutes per side, just until the edges darken, the surface blisters in spots, and the meat stays flexible. Do not cook it into leather. Tasajo should chew, not fight back.

9. 9

   Serve Veracruz style

   Pass the banana leaves over the flame until glossy and flexible, then line a wide platter with them. Slice the grilled tasajo across the grain into strips and pile it generously on the leaves. Set the black beans, ancho-chipotle acuyo salsa, warm corn tortillas, raw white onion, and lime halves on the table. Eat with your hands if the tortilla is doing its job. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for top round, bola, or centro de pulpa sliced with the grain into long strips. Do not buy pre-marinated carne asada. That seasoning belongs to another conversation.
• •This tasajo is not shelf-stable. It is salted, dried under control, and cooked. Keep it cold during the cure and refrigerator dry, then grill it the day it finishes drying.
• •Use chile chipotle seco, not canned chipotle in adobo, for this salsa. Canned chipotle brings vinegar and sugar that flatten the acuyo. If you can only find chile morita, use it and know the flavor will be sweeter and less deep. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •The beans are black because Veracruz cooks use black beans. Pinto beans belong more to northern tables. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
• •If you do not have a grill, use a ripping-hot cast iron comal and cook the strips quickly in batches. You will miss the wood flavor, but you will still have the salt cure, the chew, and the beans. That is the honest compromise.

Advance Preparation

• •Start the beef the day before serving. Salt it at night, dry it through the next day, and grill it for dinner. Do not hold uncooked cured tasajo for more than 24 hours after drying.
• •The black beans can be cooked up to 3 days ahead and reheated with a spoonful of manteca de cerdo.
• •The ancho-chipotle acuyo salsa keeps refrigerated for 2 days. Reheat it in a small cazuela so the manteca loosens and the chile flavor wakes up.
• •Leftover grilled tasajo keeps refrigerated for 3 days. Chop it and warm it on a comal with a little manteca, then fold it into tortillas with beans.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)