EspañolEnjoy one of the most cherished Mexican dishes ever, traditional carne asada a la tampiqueña, or Carne Asada Tampiqueña, the rumored favorite of none other than Princess Grace of Monaco. Learn about its origins, its variations and how to make it at home.
In partnership with High River Angus®
The collective love for Carne Asada Tampiqueña, an extraordinarily popular Mexican dish, starts with the sheer variety of foods which make it up. These include grilled beef, guacamole, beans, rice, cheese, vegetables and sauce.
If you've not heard of it, no worries, today you'll become an expert. If you have, you still might be surprised to know that it started as a breakfast called almuerzo huasteco.
The Origins of Carne Asada Tampiqueña
The creation of the dish is attributed to Don José Inés Loredo, a Mexican restaurateur who lived in, and fell in love with, the City of Tampico in the Mexican State of Tamaulipas.
However, credit also goes to Don Fidel Loredo, his brother, and Antonio de Rocabruna, his friend, who were in charge of the kitchen at Loredo's restaurant, Club Tampico, in Mexico City.(1)
Founded in 1939, Club Tampico stayed open 24 hours a day. One of its more popular dishes was the “almuerzo huasteco,” served in the very early mornings (almuerzo means breakfast).
This almuerzo included a piece of cecina (dried meat), green enchiladas, grilled queso fresco, and beans with epazote. It became so popular, customers started asking for it later in the day.
At that time, the name changed to carne asada a la tampiqueña, poblano chiles and onions were added, and the cecina was swapped out for a thin steak.
The Meaning and the Variations of Carne Asada Tampiqueña
Inspired by the beauty of the Mexican City of Tampico, each element of the dish has a meaning:
- The oval plate represents the Huasteca (one of the most bio-diverse regions in Mexico, with over 2,000 species of plants).
- The steak represents the Panuco River.
- The green enchiladas and guacamole represent the vegetation and fields of the region.
- The queso fresco represents the noble spirit of the people in Tampico.
- The black beans represent the region's rich soil.
Variations:
- The enchiladas may be green, red or even made with Mexican mole.
- The refried beans may be pintos or black, served with tortilla chips
- The rice can be white or red
- It can be served with or without Poblano chiles and onions
The Best Cut for Carne Asada Tampiqueña
Even though the beauty of Tampiqueña lay in its combination of foods and flavors, the hero of the dish is definitely the beef. Look for a cut to grill like skirt steak or flank steak.
For this recipe I chose a delicious flank steak from High River Angus®. Angus beef is incredibly flavorful, tender and juicy, thanks to the marbling in the cut, which is exactly what's needed for tampiqueña.
Look for it at your local supermarket.The cut must be long and thin, ask your butcher. You can also buy steaks and cut them thinly at home.
If the steak is still not sufficiently thin, use a meat tenderizing mallet or even a rolling pin to get the desired thinness. You can lay the beef out between two layers of plastic wrap when hammering it.
If you make this Carne Asada Tampiqueña, be sure to snap a photo and share it with us on social media using the #mamalatinatips hashtag. I’d love to see it and have a chance to share it as well.
Carne Asada Tampiqueña
4 portions
Prep time: 5 minutes – Start to finish: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 1 lb High River Angus® thin flank steak or skirt steak
- Garlic salt
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 Poblano pepper (in parts of the USA, this is sometimes called a pasilla pepper, but is different from the Mexican pasilla)
- 1 medium white onion
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 4-8 corn tortillas, taqueria-style, or 4 regular size corn tortillas
- 1 cup enchilada sauce
- Queso fresco
- Refried black beans
- Guacamole, for the recipe, click on the link
- Mexican red rice, optional
Process
Flatten the steak with a meat tenderizing hammer or a rolling pin (inside a plastic bag) until thin, see photo below.
Cut the steak into 4 long steaks and season generously with garlic salt and fresh ground pepper. Set aside. The steak needs to be at room temperature before grilling.
Grill, peel and seed the Poblano pepper, check out how to do it here. Cut into long strips. Peel onion and cut into thick slices.
Heat a skillet over high heat, add one tablespoon oil and saute onion for a couple of minutes. Incorporate Poblano pepper, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook until the onion is soft and translucent. Set aside.
Heat a grill, or grill pan, over high heat greased with a tablespoon of oil. Grill steaks approx 2 minutes per side, the steak should be tender and juicy.
Heat the enchilada sauce and tortillas. Take one warm tortilla, submerge in the sauce, place on a plate, fill with queso fresco, roll it up, cover with more sauce and cheese, then repeat until finished with 4 enchiladas.
Heat refried beans and rice.
Place the steak on an oval plate, spread Poblano peppers and onions next to the meat. Add a portion of guacamole and refried beans to one side of the steak. Place the enchiladas and rice on the other.
¡Buen provecho!
More Recipes
I’m a proud Colorado Boxed Beef ambassador creating delicious recipes with their products. Check out these other recipes:
- Angus Beef Kabobs for Kids
- Chorizo Tacos with Roasted Onion, Corn and Avocado Salsa
- Shrimp in Beer Sauce
- Angus Beef and Chorizo Parrillada
- Tilapia Empanadas
- Strip Roast Adobado
- Shrimp in Roasted Green Salsa
- Chorizo Garbanzo Bean Stew
- Jamaican Jerk Sliders with Citrus Coleslaw
- Grilled Surf and Turf Salad with Cilantro Dressing
(1) Source: Tampico official government website.
Print the recipe below:
Carne Asada Tampiqueña
Ingredients
- 1 lb High River Angus® thin flank steak or skirt steak
- Garlic salt
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 Poblano pepper in parts of the USA, this is sometimes called a pasilla pepper, but is different from the Mexican pasilla
- 1 medium white onion
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 4-8 corn tortillas taqueria-style, or 4 regular size corn tortillas
- 1 cup enchilada sauce
- Queso fresco
- Refried black beans
- Guacamole for the recipe, click on the link
- Mexican red rice optional
Instructions
- Flatten the steak with a meat tenderizing hammer or a rolling pin (inside a plastic bag) until thin, see photo below.
- Cut the steak into 4 long steaks and season generously with garlic salt and fresh ground pepper. Set aside. The steak needs to be at room temperature before grilling.
- Grill, peel and seed the Poblano pepper, check out how to do it here. Cut into long strips. Peel onion and cut into thick slices.
- Heat a skillet over high heat, add one tablespoon oil and saute onion for a couple of minutes. Incorporate Poblano pepper, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook until the onion is soft and translucent. Set aside.
- Heat a grill, or grill pan, over high heat greased with a tablespoon of oil. Grill steaks approx 2 minutes per side, the steak should be tender and juicy.
- Heat the enchilada sauce and tortillas. Take one warm tortilla, submerge in the sauce, place on a plate, fill with queso fresco, roll it up, cover with more sauce and cheese, then repeat until finished with 4 enchiladas.
- Heat refried beans and rice.
- Place the steak on an oval plate, spread Poblano peppers and onions next to the meat. Add a portion of guacamole and refried beans to one side of the steak. Place the enchiladas and rice on the other.
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