taco night: flank steak, lime, spices, chiles, smoked salt, garlic, onion, cilantro, corn tortillas.
- Smash up a few cloves of garlic in a mortar with some Mexican back smoked sea salt (or just use kosher salt). Now add your ground spices and chiles. I used cumin, coriander, chile powder, ancho, and chipotle. Squeeze in half a lime and add several tablespoons of vegetable oil. Mix everything around to form a thick, homogenous paste.
- Add the paste to a large ziplock bag and then place half a flank steak in the bag. Move everything around to coat the meat, then squeeze out the air and seal the bag. Place in the refrigerator to marinade for 2-4 hours.
- Finely mince a quarter of a while onion. Rinse the minced onion in a little cold water to take away some of its pungency, and then gently squeeze the onion dry in a paper towel. Finely chop half a bunch of cilantro and mix it into the onion. Set aside.
- Heat up an oiled grill or gill pan until it begins to smoke. Remove the steak from its bag and scrape off the excess marinade that clings to it. Salt both sides of the meat, and cook on the grill on high heat until medium-rare.
- Rest the meat for about 3 minutes, then cut it into small cubes. Using tongs, heat some small corn tortillas up directly over the flame of your stove. (If you don’t have a gas stove, just heat them in a dry pan). Place the tortillas two deep on a warmed plate. Top with steak and then the onion-cilantro mixture. Serve with lime wedges.
