The first thing I do when I land in my home state of Texas is Google Map the nearest Tex-Mex joint and get some queso into my bloodstream. When I visited my brother in Dallas recently, we sat in a picturesque patio outside of Uncle Julio’s that looked out onto a strip mall parking lot where monster trucks roared by. I learned what truck nutz are this year! Yet somehow all of that disappears when a waiter walks by with a sizzling platter of fajitas. You suddenly want to raise your hand like you know the answer in Algebra and shout: I WANT THAT.
Fellow Texan Rick Martinez used to canoe down Lake Austin with his friends and then end the journey with a feast of fajitas at the Hyatt on Town Lake. Inspired by this beautiful memory of friendship and charred meat, he developed a fajita recipe that is very BA. Mezcal-and-fish-sauce marinated skirt steak fajitas with all the fixins: the best guacamole, a life-changing roasted cashew salsa, classic pico, and bacon fat tortillas. Bless his heart.
The secret to those sizzling restaurant fajitas—the most genius food marketing shtick of all time–is that they pre-heat the platter in a 600 degree oven so that when your undercooked steak comes out of the kitchen, it continues to cook, and cook, and cook. The hallmark of an inauthentic authentic Tex Mex fajita? Rubbery, overcooked steak. Nothing an entire pound of guac can’t fix, IMO.
But when you make them at home, they’ll be perfection.
The marinade is: chipotle chiles, garlic, lime juice, mezcal, fish sauce, orange juice, soy sauce, oregano, cumin, and salt. The skirt steak picks up flavor pretty damn fast, so you could get away with a 30 minute wait time, but an hour is best. Because the meat will be on the grill for so short a time, the mezcal adds a smokiness that you won’t have time to get the charcoal way. And if you’re more of a tequila cowgirl, go with that, but save the shots for when the food hits the table.
FISH SAUCE, you say. SOY SAUCE? What the Sam Hill? YES those are here and they’re awesome. The fish sauce will stink like you can’t believe when you open the bottle, but the tiny amount in the marinade only adds umami and actually brings out the delicious meat flavor of the steak. Like fringe suede jackets and crocodile boots, I need you to embrace this fish sauce lifestyle.
Cook-wise, only 2-3 minutes per side with the steak, then let it rest to continue cooking and retain that ridiculously flavorful marinade. While it rests for 10 minutes, grill the onions and peppers and holler at your partner to assemble the accoutrement, the more the better. Sour cream and shredded cheddar are a must, pickled jalapeños are my personal passion, and if you buy store-bought guacamole I will actually scream. Just make this recipe, it’s easy as the dickens and without flaw.