Carne Asada

Introduction & method

Carne asada - grilled (or roasted) meat in Spanish, is no ordinary beef steak. It's lifted to another level by a tasty, zingy marinade. You can serve this meat with some sides or in fajitas or burritos.

Prep

It's OK - actually good - if your meat has a bit of fat on it, but if there's any silverskin you need to get rid of that. Juice the limes, crush the garlic, chop the coriander and mince the jalapeño. In a suitable container, mix all the marinade ingredients together. Add the steak and make sure it's coated all over, then leave it to marinate for at least 3 hours and no more than 12. When you're ready to cook, remove the meat from the marinade and wipe it dry. Allow it to reach room temperature if it was in the fridge.

Cook

You can cook the steak in a cast iron skillet or on a griddle plate or outdoor barbecue or grille. Whatever you choose, heat it until it's smoking hot. If you're cooking indoors make sure you have doors and windows open and extraction on! Spray some oil on the meat and place it on the griddle. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Cook for 4-5 minutes, turn it over and cook for another 4 or 5 minutes. Don't worry if the outside looks like it's burning - this char is exactly what you want. Remove it from the griddle when the internal temperature is 43°C (110°F) or so. Place it on a warmed plate and loosely tent it in foil. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Residual heat will continue cooking it and the final temperature should be 52°C to 54°C (125°F to 130°F) for medium rare.

Serve

Thinly slice the meat across the grain - it will be tough to eat if you cut it with the grain. You can serve the meat with an assortment of sides, or you can use it in fajitas or burritos,