You guys gave me some understandably mixed feedback after my last post. Undeterred, I set my mind to making something which would be up to this subs standard.
Marinade made from lime juice, orange juice, olive oil, cilantro, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, garlic powder, garlic, jalapeño, and maybe some other stuff I forgot.
I ended up using hanger steak due to a misunderstanding with my butcher. I had been looking for skirt/flank. I don’t understand why all countries can’t just use the same name for everything.
A salsa made from canned tomatillo (canned find fresh in Australia), jalapeño, garlic, onion, coriander, salt and pepper.
I was able to get some packet corn tortillas from a local manufacturer. They were not as good as some I’ve had in local restaurants. Maybe I didn’t heat them up correctly.
I don’t think I had enough salt in my marinade, and I should have used the hot plate instead of the grill (I was using a gas bbq, not charcoal unfortunately). I didn’t get enough caramelisation on the meat. But the meat was still nice and surprisingly tender. I think I’m Australia we tend not to utilise cheap, tough cuts of meat enough, so this gas inspired me to be more adventurous in that regard.
I think the real hero here was actually the salsa. Am I right in thinking that salsa is one of the most important parts of Mexican food?
Any feedback appreciated. I love Mexican food and want to do it justice.
by 20shepherd01
31 Comments
Those tortillas look like they need more time on the comal.
The meat looks awesome! My recommendation is to finely dice the onion and cilantro and to keep the tortillas on the comal a little longer. I heat mine up until their halfway hard, let em rest for a minute then spread a small amount of cooking oil on each side of the tortilla and heat it back up on your flat top each side 20-25 seconds.
Can I recommend something?dice up the onion and cilantro more ,cut it up into really small .The tortillas add a little bit of oil to them and don’t put them on pan till the pan is already hot if you put it on pan while it’s still heating up tortillas will be stale. I personally like using peanut oil to cook my tacos, olive oil is strong in flavor and it takes away from the meat
Im from the north of Mexico, Nuevo Leon and this its a Carne Asada for us: [https://youtu.be/hfmVpn8iK-k?si=oga4mrHlPrX964Xs](https://youtu.be/hfmVpn8iK-k?si=oga4mrHlPrX964Xs) (depend in what you have available).
In USA the Carne Asada is different? this its more like “Tacos de carnitas” for me.
The tortillas need a little oil when you heat them, so they dont look dry.
Still looks good OP enjoy your Tacos!.
I prefer my onions & cilantro chopped a bit finer, but I would *tooooootally* eat that. Looks good! 😋
Looks good! I would recommend chopping the onions way smaller.
Seems dry. That meat needs some juicy meat juice
Tip: Chop the onions smaller in my opinion
Those tortillas need to be heated up more. I understand you don’t have fresh tomatillos. It looks like a pesto sauce, I would have stuck to salsa roja. And the cilantro needs to cut smaller. They’re too chunky. But otherwise, not bad for a first time.
Legit
Ok, here comes the educational part:
1.not all dishes you eat in tacos have/go with cilantro and onions aka *jardín*. There are dozens, maybe hundreds like these
2. So, when you eat carne asada in tacos, they don’t go with jardín. There are several other better options.
3. Since carne asada is usually home-made, we stick to home-made stuff, usually:
* Guacamole
* Pico de gallo
* Salsa – with grilled/charred tomatoes and chiles from your grill and then straight to the molcajete or blender
* nopales and cebollitas
In central/southern Mexico, the evening taquerias which usually sell: pastor, rib meat, chorizo, etc, they’ll have beef which we call *bistec*(spanishzation of beefsteak) but is different from carne asada, is another cut, thin, and is cooked over a big pan. Still, no jardin, just lime and salsa, or you can order a *bistec con queso*.
Don’t believe anything you see in mexican restaurants in the US, 95% serve food for americans in mind, not for us. And 95% of them suck (yes even in CA, TX, AZ, IL, and NY)
Heat the tortillas a lot more it’s ok to get some color on them. Dice the toppings a lot finer. Water down the sauce a tiny bit it should be a bit runnier. Hit the taco with some lime juice and bam. You’re getting there though.
Properly heat the tortillas. I do it over an open flame/burner.
They look outstanding to me! And your ingredients sound perfect.
ASADA!
Looks pretty good! Yes you’re right salsa is an integral part of many Mexican dishes especially tacos. Nothing is more sad than a taco sin salsa.
I think the next step is learning to make your own tortillas! Store bought don’t even compare, and they aren’t that hard to make. I’m curious if you can find Maseca in Australia, if there are any Mexican grocery stores im sure it would be their.
I would put the guacamole and also put cheese on the side. Diced tomatoes and sliced radishes
They look delicious 😋
The onion should be a little smaller and to make those tacos look less sad, I would add a good guacamole.
looks really good just cook the tortillas a bit more and dice up the onions and cilantro a lil smaller and they’re perfect🔥🔥
Y no me invitas!? Yo traigo la cerveza!
I’m from California , I know everything about Mexican food. Nobody else in the world do it like Mexico. N California. That’s it. Ask me for advise
Use flour tortillas!!!
Nice. Looks like tacos.
I really like guacamole with carne asada. If you’ve already got the salsa for other flavors, it can be as simple as just smashing avocado up with salt and a bit of lime. Also, a squeeze of lime on top just before eating really completes simple traditional tacos like these. Like others said, usually the onions are a very fine dice, but that’s kind of preference.
In any case, it looks like you got a taste of real Mexican food. That flavor profile right there is one of my favorite things in the world.
Edit: You are correct that the salsa is a crucial element. With so few ingredients they’re all pretty important to do right, but especially the salsa. I’m near San Diego and one of the ways people choose their go-to Mexican spots is just by their salsas. If you want to keep pushing yourself check out r/salsasnobs, though not *everything* in there will be traditional.
Greetings from a Southern Californian, your tacos look really good, great job! Some advice I would give you is definitely cook your tortillas on a cast iron with some oil. It should light coat them. Corn tortillas are fairly heat resistant compared to flour so it’ll take a lot to burn them, no need to be scared about that. I would cook them for a minute on each side on medium heat or until they turn a nice golden color, just don’t leave them on where they stay fried flat.
Other than that I would maybe add some sort of chili powder to you meat marinate, doesn’t need to be spicy. And top the taco off with some lime. Happy cooking!
Need to cook those tortillas. If you use flour, just an open flame will do, long enough for each side to have some browning. If you use corn, a cast-iron pan with hot oil does a great job. I personally prefer flour tortillas with Carne Asada, but corn has its place.
Contents look great. Maybe add some avocado and pico de gallo in place of the onions. If you do want to use onions, try red onions instead.
Isnt it normal to add tomatos? Idk but looks tasty to me
I’d suggest learning to make your own tortillas. Just made tortillas are always better than store bought. I’m probably not too far off from going down the nixtamalizing and grinding corn at home rabbit hole to make masa 😄 but until then dehydrated masa (Maseca) works fine.
Looks nice for a first try… any chance to get an avocado? And don’t forget some lime on top 😋
Enjoy
Try these tortillas they taste better because of the nixtamalization forward taste
https://www.mirancho.com/
Try these tortillas they taste better because of the nixtamalization forward
taste
It wouldn’t let me drop the link but they are called Mi Rancho Google them you might be able to get them on Amazon they are darker yellow tan color organic and very tasty….
White tortillas don’t have much flavor … also dip the tortillas in a little bit of oil for even more flavor….