Carne Seca is a traditional Mexican recipe for a classic dish of thinly-sliced meat that's marinated in a chilli blend and then dried in a low oven. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Mexican version of: Carne Seca.
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Ingredients:
10 dried guajillo chillies, stems and seeds removed
6 dried chiles de arbol, stems removed
8 to 10 garlic cloves, skins left on
small piece of Mexican cinnamon stick or 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tsp black peppercorns or 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 whole clove or 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
4 tbsp cider vinegar
8 very thin slices of topside of beef or thin slices of pork leg (about 1.3kg total weight)
Method:
Heat 1.5l water in a medium-sized pan.
Place a heavy based frying pan or skillet over medium heat. Allow to warm up for a few minutes. Once hot add the guajillo peppers, along with the chile de arbol and garlic.
Toast the dried chillies for at most, two minutes, turning as they become aromatic. Use a metal spatula to press down gently on the dried chillies. Remove from heat and place in saucepan with the water that has been heating up. Leave the garlic on for another 6 to 8 minutes, turning them occasionally, then remove from heat.
Whilst the chillies and garlic are cooking, grind together the cinnamon, black peppercorns and cloves in a spice grinder (or use a pestle and mortar). When the chillies in the water come to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for another 6 to 8 minutes. Allow the garlic to cool until it can be handled then remove the skins.
Drain the chillies, reserving 120ml of their cooking liquid. Combine the chillies, their cooking liquid, the garlic, spices, vinegar, salt in a blender. Pulse to chop then blend the sauce on high until smooth. If it's too thick, add a little more water.
Pass the resultant adobo (chilli sauce) through a fine-meshed sieve then season to taste for salt. Reserve about 80ml of the adobe sauce for later.
In the base of a large baking dish, add a little of the remaining adobo, about the same size as your meat slices. Place a slice of meat on top of the sauce. Brush more chilli sauce on top. Repeat this process, stacking the beef (or pork) on top of each other until all the meat has been added. Cover and marinate for 24 hours.
When the meat has marinated for 24 hours, remove from the refrigerator. Pre-heat you oven to 80C.
Line the base or bottom rack of your oven with a large pan or sheet of foil in case the meat drips. Carefully lay the thin slices of meat onto metal racks, making sure that they are not overlapping.
Place the metal rack with the meat in the oven. Use a wooden spoon to crack the oven door open. The meat will take about 100 minutes to cook and dry properly. The meat was extremely thin. Adjust the cooking time accordingly for thicker cuts of meat. Remove from oven and let cool before carefully pulling beef from metal rack. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
For use in tacos: Take one slice of meat, then tear the carne seca into bite-sized pieces. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil to medium heat. Add the meat pieces and cook for a few minutes. Add 50g thinly-sliced red onion, 1 jalapeño or serrano chilli, sliced and 1 roma tomato that has been sliced into strips. Season with a little salt and black pepper and cook for just another few minutes. Add a little lime juice. Serve with warm tortillas. Garnish with coriander and your favourite salsa. Yields 4 tacos.
