Carne a la Tampiqueña

One long thin strip cut down the length of a fillet, so a single piece frames the plate of accompaniments.

Chicken, Beef. Not vegetarian — contains beef, cheese whose rennet the source does not name, chicken, chicken stock, lard.

Ingredients

the beef

• 4 pieces beef fillet, about 200 g each
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• black pepper

the plate

• 8 small enchiladas, as on their own page
• 300 g refried beans, as on their own page
• guacamole, as on its own page
• 4 spring onions, whole
• 200 g Oaxaca cheese, in 4 slabs
• 2 poblano chillies, charred, skinned and in strips
• lime wedges

Method

1. IT IS ONE LONG THIN STRIP CUT DOWN THE LENGTH OF A FILLET, and the shape is the dish. The fillet is laid flat and cut in a continuous spiral or a single long slice about a centimetre thick and twenty-five centimetres long, so one piece of beef runs down one side of the plate and the accompaniments sit in a row beside it. That is why the dish is served on a long plate and why the beef is never cubed or chopped: the geometry is the presentation, and everything else on the plate is defined by being NEXT to it. Served as a conventional steak with things around it, it is a mixed grill.
2. THE CUT IS MADE WITH THE KNIFE ALMOST FLAT AND THE MEAT HALF-FROZEN. Twenty minutes in the freezer firms the fillet enough to control a long shallow cut; at room temperature it flexes under the blade and the strip comes out uneven, thick in places and torn in others, and an uneven strip cooks unevenly in two minutes.
3. IT COOKS IN UNDER THREE MINUTES AND THE PAN MUST BE SMOKING. A one-centimetre strip of fillet over high heat needs about ninety seconds a side. The pan is heated until the oil shimmers and moves, the strip goes in, and it is not touched. In a merely hot pan it releases water and braises grey.
4. THE PLATE IS ASSEMBLED IN A ROW AND EVERYTHING IS READY BEFORE THE BEEF GOES ON. Enchiladas made, beans warm, guacamole made in the last ten minutes, onions charred, cheese grilled. The beef is the last thing and goes straight from the pan to the plate -- there is no holding it while something else is finished.
5. THE CHEESE IS GRILLED SEPARATELY IN A SLAB. A thick piece of Oaxaca under the grill or in a small pan until it has slumped and browned on top, served as its own item on the plate rather than melted over anything. It is one of the row of things beside the beef, not a topping.
6. The fillet pieces put in the freezer 20 MINUTES until firm at the edges.
7. Each cut with the knife held ALMOST FLAT into ONE LONG STRIP about 1 cm thick and 25 cm long. Seasoned with the coarse salt and pepper.
8. The enchiladas made as on their own page and kept warm. The refried beans warmed.
9. The poblanos charred, left under a cloth 15 minutes, skinned and cut in strips.
10. The spring onions charred in a dry pan until blackened and soft.
11. The cheese slabs put under a hot grill until slumped and browned on top.
12. The guacamole made, LAST, in the final 10 minutes.
13. Long plates warmed and everything except the beef arranged in a ROW: two enchiladas, a spoon of beans, guacamole, onion, cheese, poblano strips.
14. A heavy pan heated with the oil over a HIGH heat until the oil shimmers and moves.
15. One strip laid in, straightened out, and left 90 SECONDS WITHOUT MOVING.
16. TURNED ONCE and given 90 SECONDS more.
17. Laid straight down the side of the assembled plate, and the next strip started. Served with lime.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes