Carne Asada Borracha

Flank steak, marinated in a savory and salty blend of guajillo chilies, beer, and soy sauce, then seared to perfection. Simple, inexpensive, and delicious.

Course Main Dishes, Sauce/Marinade

Cuisine Mexican, North American

Keyword barbecue, beef, grilling, marinade

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Total Time 3 25

Servings people

Calories 264kcal

Ingredients

Meat and Marinade

450 g flank or skirt steak
2 guajillo chilies
1/2 cup pale beer (I used a lager)
3-4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari, or Maggi sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1.5 tsp salt
1/2 cup white onion (100 g) chopped
1/4 tsp black pepper

For Serving (Optional)

1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 large white onion
1 green pepper (or poblano pepper)
1/4 cup carne asada borracha sauce (from above) - see also note about setting aside a low-salt portion
Mexican crema
corn or flour tortillas

Instructions

Heat a heavy pan (or comal) over medium heat. Add the guajillo chilies and toast for 2 minutes, turning occasionally. Place the toasted chilies in a small bowl and cover with warm water. Set aside to soak for 20 minutes.
Combine remaining marinade ingredients (basically everything but the meat and the optional serving ingredients) in a food processor and puree. (See note below about using the marinade as a sauce)
Pierce the steak all over with a fork. Cover with the marinade and refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 8 hours.
Remove the steak from the marinade and set it aside (keep the marinade for cooking the vegetables). Allow it to come to room temperature. Preheat an outdoor grill/barbecue to a high heat (around 450-500 F). Place the steak on the grill and cook for about 3 minutes per side. Remove the steak from heat and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before slicing. (Note that you want to sear the steak on VERY high heat, making an outdoor grill ideal. If you don't have one, you can use a very hot cast iron pan.)
Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat and add 1 tsp of oil. Once the oil is very hot and shimmering, add the onion and saute for 1 minute. Add the peppers and saute for an additional 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of the marinade to the pan and continue to cook until the peppers are soft and the sauce is thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
Cut the steak into thin strips against the grain of the muscle. Serve with warmed tortillas (I like flour tortillas for this) and the cooked vegetables (or any other way you might like). If you kept a little of the low-salt marinade, spoon it over the meat and enjoy.

Notes

The marinade itself makes an excellent sauce, though it's quite salty as-is. If you want to keep some of the marinade to use as a sauce, omit half the salt when pureeing, set a small portion aside for serving, then add most of the remaining salt to the marinade (leave out a little to make up for what you're reserving). Even if you do make the full-salt version only, you can benefit from using the flavour to cook all of the vegetables toward the end.

Nutrition