More Than a Cut of Meat
“Carne asada” literally means grilled meat, and in the north of Mexico it describes both a dish and an occasion. Families and friends gather around a grill, usually on a weekend or holiday, to cook beef over fire and eat it with tortillas, beans, salsas and grilled vegetables. In many homes, an invitation to “a carne asada” means an afternoon, not just a meal.
Beef became central to northern cooking partly because of ranching. Cattle arrived with the Spanish, and the dry grasslands of states such as Sonora, Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila and Tamaulipas supported cattle raising from the colonial period onward. The result is a regional food culture in which beef, wheat and cheese matter in a way they do not in the south, as described under northern cuisine and in the account of Sonoran cuisine and its dried beef.
Cuts Commonly Used
Names for cuts differ from place to place, and butchers in Mexico divide a carcass differently from butchers elsewhere, so these descriptions are approximate.
- Arrachera: often described as skirt steak, a long, flat, flavorful cut with a pronounced grain. It is among the best-known cuts for carne asada and is usually marinated.
- Diezmillo and similar chuck cuts: fairly tough, but flavorful, so they are usually sliced thin.
- Sirloin and rib cuts: leaner or richer depending on the part, and common in steak-style grilling.
- Tira de asado: thin cross-cut short ribs, cooked quickly and cut off the bone, often seen at home gatherings.
- Cecina: thinly sliced, salted and sometimes dried beef, different in preparation and found in many regions.
Thin cuts cook quickly over a hot fire. Thicker, tougher cuts do better with a marinade and slicing against the grain after cooking. When in doubt, ask a butcher how a cut is meant to be cooked.
Marinades
Marinades vary a great deal. Many are based on citrus, either lime or sour orange, with garlic, salt and pepper. Others add beer, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chile or onion. Some cooks use almost nothing but salt, so that the meat and smoke are the main flavors.
Acid in a marinade changes the surface texture of meat, and too much time can make it mushy rather than tender. A few hours is typically enough for thin cuts. Heavier seasoning pastes, such as those described under chile adobo, belong to a different tradition.
Fire and Fuel
Traditional carne asada is cooked over wood or charcoal. In parts of the north, mesquite is a common wood, and its smoke is strongly associated with regional grilling. Cooks usually want a bed of hot coals, and they sear thin steaks quickly. Gas grills are used in many homes, and the result is different but still counts as carne asada.
The grill is usually also used for the sides:
- Cebollitas, whole spring onions grilled until soft and charred.
- Chiles, such as whole jalapenos or serranos, blistered on the grill.
- Cheese, such as asadero or panela, grilled or melted.
- Nopales, which can be grilled; see the preparation notes under nopales cactus.
- Tortillas, warmed over the coals.
What Is Served With It
In the north the favored tortilla is often wheat, so carne asada is commonly paired with flour tortillas, although corn is also used and preferred in many places. Typical accompaniments include frijoles charros (beans served in broth), rice, avocado guacamole and several salsas. Cold drinks, soft drinks and, for adults, beer are often part of the scene.
Carne asada also appears in many other forms: in tacos at stands, in tortas, in burritos, and as part of mixed grills. In some market stands the meat is chopped fine on a griddle rather than served in strips.
The Social Side
What sets carne asada apart from a plain grilled steak is the gathering. The person who runs the grill is often a respected figure in the group, and everyone else brings something: salsa, drinks, tortillas, dessert. Eating is slow, and conversation continues for hours, in the spirit of the long afternoon custom of table sobremesa. In northern Mexico and in communities of northern Mexican origin in the United States, a carne asada is an important weekend and holiday event, often marking birthdays, sports matches or family reunions.
Beef Beyond the Grill
Beef appears throughout Mexican cooking in other ways. It is stewed in broths, shredded for fillings, cured and dried in the north, and ground for stuffings. The tradition of beef caldo is one example of a gentler use of the same animal. In the center and south, pork, goat and lamb are used more than beef in many traditional dishes, a pattern that reflects local history and geography, not a ranking.
Food Safety at the Grill
Because carne asada is cooked outdoors, often for a crowd, a few cautions help.
- Keep raw meat cold until it goes on the grill, and do not leave it out for long on a warm day.
- Use separate plates and utensils for raw and cooked meat.
- Do not reuse a marinade that held raw meat as a sauce unless it has been boiled.
- Cook thicker cuts through, using a thermometer if unsure. Thin steaks cook quickly but should still be checked.
- Handle hot coals and flare-ups carefully, and keep children away from the fire.
A Regional Pride, Not a Single Standard
It would be wrong to call any one version “the” carne asada. A family in Sonora, a restaurant in Monterrey and a street stand in Tijuana may use different cuts, seasonings and tortillas, and each will regard its own as correct. The common thread is fire, beef and company, and that is a sound way to think of the tradition.