Tacos de Carne Asada

Tags

guacamole, hardwood charcoal, mexican, skirt steak, tacos, the mighty hibachi

I was on a mission today to find skirt steak.

At the grocery stores here in NZ, what they call “skirt steak” is actually flank steak – an entirely different bit of cow.  When you ask the butcher at the meat counter, they tell you that’s all they get, boxed meat.  That is not acceptable!

What I needed was a proper butcher, someone who fabricates a whole side of beef.  As it turns out, there is a proper butcher just down the street.  But, would a Kiwi butcher know about skirt steak?  Only one way to find out.

I walked down to the butcher shop and asked for skirt steak.  He said, “just a minute” as he opened the door to the walk in cooler.  A moment later he returned with a package and handed it to me, “This is what you want.”

Indeed.  There it was:  skirt steak.

A proper skirt steak.

As it turns out, the butcher fabricates beef on Monday and Wednesday and I showed up just in time to buy the last one.  Lucky, as there are only four skirt steaks per animal.

Time to fire up The Mighty Hibachi!

Yeah, I know, the meat is already grilled.  I was paying so much attention to grilling the meat, I forgot to take a photo of the meat sizzling away over the coals.  You’ll just have to trust me.

I suppose now I’ll have to fire up The Mighty Hibachi another time, so I can take a couple pictures to share with you.

I heated a few corn tortillas on the plancha and made some fresh guacamole.  I would typically make these tacos with two tortillas per taco, but I did not have very many tortillas, so I went with a single tortilla.  Get over it.

Are you hungry?

Cthulhu versus The Mighty Hibachi

Tags

chargrill, chargrilled squid, hardwood charcoal, squid, the mighty hibachi

I picked up a couple of whole, uncleaned squid at the market today.  I cleaned the squid, then cut the mantle flat and cross-cut them into quarters.  The legs I simply cut in half.

I made a simple marinade of olive oil, diced red chiles, crushed garlic, fresh grated ginger, salt & pepper.  I mixed the squid bits with the marinade by hand, working the marinade into all the lovely cross-cuts and put it in the fridge while I set up the BBQ.

Time to fire up The Mighty Hibachi!

Chargrilling over hardwood charcoal gives good flavour.

When cooking squid, you either cook it quickly over a high heat or long and slow.  I chose to grill over direct heat.  The mantle cooked in less than 2 minutes.  The legs can stand a bit more heat, so I cooked them for about 6 minutes, turning every couple of minutes or so.  DO NOT OVERCOOK!

Chargrilled squid

Served with a lemon cheek, garlic bread, and lightly dressed baby spinach.  Well, it turns out I overdressed the greens.  I blame the beer.

The squid was tender and sweet, with a wonderful smoky flavour from the direct grilling over hardwood charcoal.  Simply delicious.

The Mighty Hibachi Burger

Tags

beef, charcoal, cheeseburger, chiles, chiles anaheim, grilled, hamburger, hardwood charcoal, hibachi, tomato, vintage cheddar cheese

270g (before cooking!) Coarsely ground, loosely packed beef grilled medium rare over hardwood charcoal with grilled red onion, fire roasted Anaheim chile, vintage cheddar cheese (aged 24 months), and tomato.

Bone-In Ribeye Steaks Grilled Over Hardwood Charcoal

Tags

beef, charcoal, hardwood charcoal, hibachi

I walked down the street to the fish & chip shop to buy a couple of fresh fish fillets for dinner. They were sold out of fish, so I walked over to the butcher’s shop to buy some pork schnitzel.

I glanced at the shop window from the outside and noticed they had pork schnitzel. I walk inside. I looked at the meat case inside. My eye caught sight of a standing rib roast. I forgot about the pork schnitzel.

Standing rib roast. Hmm… That’s a primal cut, a bone-in ribeye. It just happens to be one of the best cuts of meat to grill… I had the butcher cut the standing ribeye into 2 2-inch bone-in ribeye steaks. These steaks cried out for grilling over hardwood charcoal.

I set up the mighty hibachi for direct grilling over hardwood charcoal (no other choice, really). These steaks were so good they called for nothing more than a bit of olive oil and a liberal sprinkling of salt & pepper. I grilled the steaks medium rare and served them with grilled asparagus, marinated cannellini beans, and a dinner salad. Absolutely delicious.