Fajita is a old mexican cowboy recipe for cheap cuts of meat, cooked on a hot BBQ, and sliced to serve in a tortilla

Ingredients

• 1 tsp Black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 tsp Chilli powder
• 1 tsp Cumin, freshly ground
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar

Method

The traditional mexican peppers are not available outside of Mexico, though we can simulate them with Black Pepper and Paprika. Paprika is a type of red pepper that has been smoked, dried, and ground. Good Paprika should smell very smokey and sweet

Adjust the type and amount of Chilli powder to taste, go for a sweet tasting Chilli, not the typical Asian styles

Cumin seeds are easy to buy and keep, and just require a quick grind before use. A cheap electric coffee grinder (not used for coffee) is the best spice grinder. Look for one with a metal bowl, not plastic when it comes to spice grinding

Salt is required, as it stops the meat from drying out while cooking. With chicken breast meat, you should double the salt as the meat will dry out very fast. The salt allows the meat protein to open and absorb moisture, the very moisture that comes out because of the hot BBQ. Weird but good if you don’t like cardboard chicken

The sugar caramelises on the hot BBQ and add to the smokey taste of the Paprika and gives a nice dark colour

To make the spice mix add all ingredients to your spice grinder, and ensure they are all finely ground and thoroughly mixed

You can buy premixed Fajita spice mix in packet at supermarket, yes they have some additional stuff in them, but they work fine

Cooking

Chicken

The simplest way is to use Chicken breasts. Pat the Chicken dry with a paper towel. Pour spice mix onto a plate, and dredge Chicken through the mix until all surfaces are coated. These spice quantities are for four Chicken breasts

Use a hot BBQ grill. Pour some oil on the cooking surfaces of the Chicken, and place on the hot grill. Carefully turn every couple of minutes. Use a probe thermometer until the internal temperature of the thickest part is 70°C. The latent heat will continue to cook the interior Chicken to about 72°C, which is the recommended temperature. But we want to cook it as short as possible. If you have a large variety of Chicken breast sizes, batch them by size, and check each batch for the required temperature

You can also use an oven, around 200°C, turn every 5 minutes. This takes about 20 minutes to reach the required temperature

When cooked, remove from heat immediately, and let them rest on a cutting board for 5 to 10 minutes. Cover them loosely with a piece aluminium foil while resting

When rested, slice the Chicken across the grain so you have short strips to wrap in a tortilla

Serve with grilled capsicum strips, or other grilled vegetable strips, and chipotle sauce

Beef

Use skirt steak, and dredge steak until thoroughly covered. BBQ as per chicken, but required temperature is 55°C to 65°C (rare to medium)

If using an oven, sear in a hot pan for a minute a side before baking for about 10 minutes. Us a pan with a metal handle so you can just place the pan and steaks in oven without having to make a mess

History

Fajita means “little skirt”, which comes from the traditional use of beef skirt steak, and the serving process of slicing across the grain into little slices