Spicy Carne Asada Steak Tacos with Pickled Red Onion
Thin-sliced sirloin cooked hard with cumin and chili powder, piled into warm corn tortillas with quick-pickled red onion, crisp cabbage, avocado and a squeeze of lime.
- Total
- 20 min
- Prep 8 · Cook 10 · Rest 2
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Searing · Resting meat
- Quick
- Savory
- Mexican
- Crispy
- Spicy
- Stovetop
Instructions
-
Thinly slice the red onion into 2 mm half-moons and put them in a small bowl. Squeeze the lime over the onion, add 1/4 tsp salt, toss, and set aside to pickle while you cook.
~3 min
Acid and salt quickly soften onion while keeping its crunch, and the lime's acid turns its pigments bright pink.
-
While step 1 waits
While the onion pickles, slice the beef sirloin against the grain into 1 cm strips. Toss with ground cumin, chili powder, 1/4 tsp salt and black pepper. Shred the red cabbage, slice the avocado, and thinly slice the jalapeno.
~5 min
Slicing against the grain shortens tough muscle fibers, so the beef stays tender after a fast, hot cook.
-
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat until shimmering. Add the beef in a single layer and cook undisturbed for 2 minutes, then toss and cook 2 more minutes until browned at the edges and just cooked through, 63°C/145°F.
~2 min
A hot, uncrowded pan sears the beef for Maillard browning instead of steaming it grey and tough.
Searing Get the pan shimmering hot and leave the beef undisturbed so a brown crust forms; crowding or moving it steams the meat grey.
-
Transfer the beef to a plate and rest 2 minutes. Warm the corn tortillas in the same hot skillet, about 20 seconds per side, until pliable and lightly charred.
~2 min
Resting lets juices redistribute so they stay in the meat rather than running out when sliced.
Resting meat Let the beef sit off the heat so juices redistribute; slicing immediately lets them run out and leaves the meat dry.
-
Build the tacos: divide the beef among the tortillas, then top with the pickled red onion, shredded red cabbage, avocado slices, jalapeno and coriander leaves. Finish with a squeeze of lime juice from the pickling bowl.
~4 min
The onion only needs 5 minutes in lime juice to soften and turn bright pink; the acid also keeps its crunch, so add it to the tacos at the very end.