Photo by Michael A. Gardiner
Original carne asada tacos with salsa verde and mayo
"Carne asada” means different things to different people within different contexts. The term translates literally as “grilled meat,” but can refer to the dish, a backyard barbecue or a street party revolving around grilled marinated beef offered for build-it-yourself tacos. But if Tacos “Don Esteban” (Av. Sirak Baloyan 1236, Col. Centro, 22000) in Tijuana proves anything, it’s that there’s more than one way to do carne asada.
Carne asada’s origin is often attributed to the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora, where it’s a cultural and economic institution (with both positive and negative impacts, socially and ecologically). Classic Sonoran carne asada consists of relatively cheap but flavorful cuts of beef like flank or skirt steak, which are marinated simply, cooked over Mesquite coals to a bit of a char, chopped and served with salsas and fixings in flour (not corn) tortillas. The details of the marinade and fixings vary widely but the overall profile remains consistent.
The central innovation at “Don Esteban”—which has been doing it for over half a century—is to swap out cheap cuts for thin slices of New York steak. This accomplishes two goals: First, it’s a superior cut with incredible flavor. Second, because the cut is more tender, it doesn’t need to be chopped. Each taco is served with a single long slice of New York steak atop a slather of pinto beans on corn (not flour) tortillas (a plus in my book), and with a couple slices of avocado on top. The result is a taco with a clear and unambiguous message: steak! Everything else is garnish. Everything else plays a supporting role.
“Don Esteban” offers two homemade salsas (each in their own enormous stone molcajetes): one red, one green. The red has a bit of a kick, the green less so, but both are notable for a pulpy, vegetable texture that adds to the tacos. Every table at “Don Esteban” includes chopped white onions and a terrific pickle of onion in habanero chile (delicious, but do be wary of the orange stuff if your heat tolerance is limited).
“Don Esteban” also has chorizo tacos featuring the signature dayglo red, ground Mexican pork sausage flavored with chiles, vinegar and spices like cumin and oregano. Better yet is the mixto featuring a pile of that chorizo sitting on the New York steak slice. The result is a taco that might lack some of the directness of La Original. In its place, though, is an added layer of complexity from the chorizo’s spicing. Better yet, get one or two of each.
“Don Esteban” also offers quesadillas and mulitas with the steak, chorizo or both. There’s a certain romance about quesadillas cooked right on the mesquite coals themselves. But they lack the direct, powerful message of the original or the complexity of the mixto. In the end, the place isn’t called “Quesadilla ‘Don Esteban,’” it’s called Tacos “Don Esteban.”
In the end, what makes “Don Esteban” worth seeking out is that simple, original and direct take on carne asada tacos that transforms a chopped, marinated and charred beef taco into a true steak taco. Add that to the list of different things “carne asada” can mean.