I think it was the blatant Mexican-ism that drew me here. Or rather, I thought there was an outside chance that had Northern Mexican style carne asada. Now, just so we keep our terminology straight: carne asada is simply grilled beef. But in the experience I’ve had with Mexican cooking in the Southwest US and Northern Mexico, carne asada tends to be something very specific.
Carne asada (in this idiom) is marinated skirt steak, or thinly cut flank steak. The marinade varies but is usually some mixture of lime juice, salt, pepper, white onion, chili, beer and cilantro. I realize this leaves a lot of room for interpretation. The carne asada at Yuca’s, for instance, is completely different than the same cut at El Parian. (Although, and this is a big although for those of you out there who will accuse me of being Northern Mexico biased, they are remarkably similar considering Yuca’s is Yucatan style food.) These differences can be exciting and delightful. So you ask, if carne asada can vary so widely, how can you say with any certainty what carne asada is, or isn’t? You just can.
The biggest tip-off is the cut of meat. Skirt steak is preferable because it is thin (high surface area to total mass ratio) and soaks up the marinade well. Flank steak is often used, but it’s a slippery slope. In my opinion, the thicker the cut, the more it starts to taste like just grilled steak, as opposed to carne asada. Rick Bayless, celebrity chef and Mexican aficionado, says in his cookbook Mexican Everyday that you can use pretty much use whatever cut of steak you like. I guess this is probably true, but the steak must be cut thin.
The thin steaks are placed on the grill and cook very quickly. Ideally, the grilling chars the outside of the steak and leaves the inside slightly pink. On the other hand, I’ve had delicious carne asada that was cooked all the way through. When the steak comes off, it is sliced against the grain into thin strips if it’s going into tacos, or simply garnished with salad, a pickled and grilled jalapeno, beans and rice or whatever. Surely, one of the most thrilling moments in eating is getting an entire skirt steak set in front of you. I’ll be in LA in a couple weeks. Pictures will be taken.
Unfortunately, the tacos at HNS Rodriguez did not hold up to these standards.
I’m not really sure what kind of beef was inside this bad boy, but it tasted like brisket (?). Or at least, it had that moist, yielding quality. There was some char but it seemed like re-char to me, sort of like you get on a fast food hamburger. The flavor wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t reminiscent of the spicy, tangy meat I’m familiar with. Ahh, the search goes on.
The salsa on the other hand was exceptional. You can see it in the photo. It’s that syrupy, deep red stuff drizzled on the taco. It was kind of cross between your average salsa roja and barbecue sauce. There was heat, and smoke, and tang from the vinegar. I loved it. I want to put it on everything I eat from now on.
So maybe try a different meat here? Maybe just get chips and lather them in the delicious red sauce? Either way, let the carne asada furor begin.
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Tacos HNS Rodriguez
89-04 Roosevelt Ave.
Franklin Heights, Queens, NYC