Marinated Steak (Honduran Carne Asada)
Honduran Carne Asada is a marinated flank or skirt steak and grilled on the BBQ, a favourite past time of Honduran families. This marinade has beautiful citrus notes. It calls for bitter orange and if you can not find them fresh, (they are not easy to find here in North America) then you can do one of two things, use a bottle version called naranja agria which means bitter orange in Spanish which you can find in your local Latin market. It will likely be from concentrate but is an okay substitute for the real thing. The other possibility is to use a combination of fresh orange juice with lime juice, either way you will love the citrus flavour in this carne asada. This is the main attraction on the typical plate (the national dish of Honduras).
Although almost any cut of beef can be butterflied into thin sheets for the carne asada, typically you make it with either flank steak or skirt steak. If you don't have a grill you can use a well-seasoned grill pan or a large cast iron pan on the stove-top. Heat on high to sear and then lower the heat to finish cooking. Make sure to use your stove vent, searing the steak this way can smoke up the kitchen! If you want, before adding the steak to the marinade, reserve a couple Tbsp. of the marinade to drizzle over the finished carne asada to serve.
2 lbs beef flank or skirt steak
Marinade:
2 Tbsp. kosher salt, such as diamond crystal
½ cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
¼ cup lime juice, freshly squeezed
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. kosher salt, such as diamond crystal
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. Worchesteshire Sauce
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Give yourself 2-3 days in advance for this. Both the salting and marinade steps will lead to a more delicious steak. If you skip them, it will be tasty but not nearly as great as it could have been.
Salt steak liberally with sea salt and place in a covered bowl or ziplock back for 24-48 hours.
After at least 24 hours and at least 12 hours before you are ready to grill, prepare the marinade.
Combine orange juice, lime juice, salt, cumin, garlic, worchesteshire and olive oil and pour over steak. Let it marinade for 12-24 hours.
Preheat the Grill:
Preheat your grill for high direct heat, with part of the grill reserved with fewer coals (or gas flame) for low, indirect heat. You'll know the grill is hot enough when you can hold your hand above the grill grates for no more than one second. (You can also use a cast iron grill pan on high heat if cooking on the stovetop.)
Sear Steak on Hot Side of Grill:
Remove the steak from the marinade. Lightly brush off most of the bits of cilantro and garlic (do not brush off the oil).
Place on the hot side of the grill. Grill the steak for a few minutes only, until well seared on one side (the browning and the searing makes for great flavor), then turn the steak over and sear on the other side.
Move Steak to Cool Side of Grill:
Once both sides are well seared, move the steak to the cool side of the grill, with any thicker end of the steak nearer to the hot side of the grill.
Test with a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the steak. Pull the meat off the grill at 115°F to 120°F for rare, 125°F medium rare, 140°F for medium. The meat will continue to cook in its residual heat. Note that lean flank steak is best cooked rare, while skirt steak can be cooked well without losing moisture or flavour because it has more fat marbling.
Tent with Foil:
Place the steak on a cutting board, tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.
Slice Steak Across the Grain of the Meat:
Use a sharp, long bladed knife (a bread knife works great for slicing meat) to cut the meat. Notice the direction of the grain of the meat and cut perpendicular to the grain. Angle your knife so that your slices are wide and thin.
To Serve:
Warm the tortillas (corn or flour) for 30 seconds on each side in a dry skillet or on the grill, until toasty and pliable. Alternatively, you can warm tortillas in a microwave: heating just one or two at a time, place tortillas on a paper towel and microwave them for 15- 20 seconds each on high.
Serve with pico de gallo (fresh tomato salsa) and chopped avocados.