I looked back and was surprised to see how few taco recipes I’ve posted! I post a lot on pizza and a lot on burgers, but not so much on tacos. And man o’ man did I have a taco craving this week! Actually, not gonna lie, I’ve been having many taco cravings lately. From traditional Mexican tacos to these Korean babies. I had some skirt steak sitting in my freezer that needed to be used, and I had an urge to make Korean marinated steak for tacos.
There’s a Korean taco fusion place near me, that I have wanted to go to for years. But, the effort it takes to get to this area, well, we always choose a sit down restaurant instead. And, right now, we just aren’t making treks too far from home. So, I decided to make some Korean fusion tacos at home!
As y’all know, we love our Asian food in this house, and Korean food is definitely high on that list of favorite Asian cuisines. Whether it’s the bulgogi or the kimchi that has us addicted to Korean food, I can’t say. But, when I decided to make Korean fusion tacos, go figure that I would turn to a bulgogi-esque steak marinade + kimchi!
So, I’ve posted up a scallop taco recipe with banh mi slaw ~ basically carrots, parsnips, and kimchi. I love banh mi slaw on tacos and on, obviously, banh mis! This time around, I wanted to go a bit further with the toppings, so I made an Asian fusion pico de gallo with kimchi, tomatoes, scallions, carrots, and jalapeño. These flavors came together beautifully and were so good on top of the Asian marinated skirt steak!
I made a simple sriracha aioli, but instead of mayonnaise, I used Greek yogurt. Honestly, I tend to opt for yogurt over mayonnaise when making sriracha aioli. First, it’s lower in calories. Second, and most importantly, the flavor of the yogurt, I feel, lends itself better to the Asian flavors than mayonnaise. Something about the tartness that the yogurt subtly adds.
We like to lightly fry up the tortilla shells. I feel like it brings out the flavors. And, I almost always opt for corn tortillas because they have a stronger flavor profile. Besides the kimchi pico de gallo, I topped the tacos with red cabbage, avocado, and cilantro. Don’t skip the cilantro! It’s such an easy thing to skip, but the freshness the cilantro provides really makes the dish so much better!
I cooked the steak inside on a cast iron pan, but this can just as easily be grilled outside! Skirt steak is usually a very thin cut of meat and should only take about 3 to 4 minutes per side. However, my cut of skirt steak this time around was unusually thick, so it took 5 to 6 minutes per side. With thicker cuts of meat, I like to cook them 5 to 6 minutes, flip them and cover the pan with a lid for about 4 minutes before removing the lid and letting the steak finish cooking for the last couple of minutes. Covering it helps cook the meat inside, not just sear the outside. But I only do this for thicker cuts of meat to prevent the inside from being completely raw. As I said, most skirt steak is usually a thin cut of meat, which doesn’t need to be covered. But, if you get a thick cut of skirt steak or end up using flank steak instead, cover it after you flip it to cook into the middle. If you aren’t a fan of a rarer inside, test the meat by making a small cut in the middle of the steak to see if it needs to be cooked further… if it’s too red for you, keep cooking it covered.
Letting the meat rest is crucial after cooking it also! Letting the meat “rest” means that all those yummy juices will redistribute throughout the meat, making each bite evenly juicy. It also allows the meat to continue cooking slightly… note, it won’t bring rare meat to medium rare. So again, if you aren’t a fan of rarer meat, keep cooking the meat covered until you get to your desired color of red or pink… or brown! Lastly, always cut against the grain to ensure tender bites! You don’t want the sinewy grains of meat in each bite… it makes chewing very difficult.
These tacos are awesome! And the kimchi pico is the absolute best… I can’t believe I haven’t made a kimchi pico before, to be honest! Easy to make and packed with flavor!
Enjoy!
Korean Skirt Steak Tacos with Kimchi Pico de Gallo
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Asian, Tacos
- Cuisine: Dinner
Ingredients
Skirt Steak
1½ lbs skirt steak
1 jalapeño, deseeded and minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1” ginger, minced
¼ cup soy sauce
2 TBs brown sugar
2 TB sherry cooking wine
1 TB sesame oil
2 tsps sriracha
Pico de Gallo
1 cup kimchi, roughly chopped
1 Roma tomato, deseeded and chopped
2 scallions, chopped
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 jalapeño, deseeded and minced
Sriracha Aioli
1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
sriracha to taste (start with 1 tsp and add from there)
To Serve
8 corn tortillas ~ fried, if desired
1 avocado, sliced
1 cup red cabbage, shredded
cilantro, to garnish
Instructions
In a medium bowl, whisk together the jalapeño, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, sherry, sesame oil, and sriracha. Add the meat and coat thoroughly. Let marinade for 1 hour, or overnight with 1 hour to come to room temperature before cooking.
Make the pico de gallo. In a medium bowl, toss together the kimchi, tomatoes, scallions, carrot, and jalapeño. Set aside. Make the sriracha aioli by whisking together the yogurt with sriracha. Add a good squirt of sriracha to the yogurt, stir, and add more to taste.
When ready, head a large cast iron pan over medium heat. When hot, add the skirt steak to the pan (cut the skirt steak in half if necessary). Cook about 4 minutes on one side (if you have a thicker than usual cut of skirt steak, cook 5 minutes). Flip the steak and cover with a lid. Cook an additional 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the lid and drizzle some of the marinade on top of the steak. Flip and cook an additional 30 seconds. Remove the steak and place on a cutting board. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Slice the steak again the grain and serve.
Divide the tortillas among plates and let everyone build their own tacos! Layer red cabbage, then kimchi pico de gallo, avocado, and skirt steak. Drizzle sriracha aioli on top. Garnish with fresh cilantro.
Eat immediately! Enjoy!
Keywords: tacos, Korean tacos, taco Tuesday, taco night, Asian tacos, skirt steak tacos, Korean skirt steak, Korean skirt steak tacos, sriracha aioli, pico de gallo, Asian fusion pico de gallo, kimchi pico de gallo, how to make kimchi pico de gallo
