4 Levels of Fajitas: Amateur to Food Scientist

[pan sizzling]

[upbeat music]

Hey, what's up, it's Desi, Level One chef.

Hi, I'm Lorenzo and I'm a Level Two chef.

Hi, I am Saul,

I've been a professional chef for the past 24 years.

[upbeat music]

The best time I have fajita

is when you got about $30 left in your bank account

'cause it's a cheap meal to make.

Whenever I think of fajita,

I think of a sizzling platter coming towards me.

It's smoking!

I think this is when American food and Mexican food

get married and create Tex-Mex.

[bells ringing]

I mean, some people use shrimp,

some people like beef.

To me, I think chicken's number one.

Chicken's like the New York Yankees for the fajitas.

For my steak fajita, I use skirt steak.

Chicken's all cut up.

Now it's time to decorate the chicken.

Little salt. Gotta let it snow a little bit.

A little red pepper. Two taps.

Ah. Ah.

I'm gonna be making chipotles adobo from scratch.

Dried chilies. We soak it on hot water for like, 20 minutes.

We gonna hydrate them again

and that's going to increase the volume,

they're gonna taste better because they will be more meaty.

[Lorenzo] Let's start with chopping some garlic.

Chipotle. Chipotle peppers by the way.

[Saul] Now I'm gonna do tomatoes.

[pan sizzling]

Taco seasoning.

I like to add my own flavor to it and make it seem swagu.

That's what makes mine a little different.

The reason why I'm using brown sugar

is that's just to kill

some of the spiciness from the peppers,

and also to caramelize this sauce

so it can be nice and rich.

I'm gonna do bay leaf, oregano, cinnamon.

Ooh!

Cumin, and my secret ingredient, pineapple juice,

as my acid in my marinade.

The reason why I use apple cider vinegar, two things.

It will save it from spoiling fast,

and also, it will kill

some of the spiciness for the chipotle,

'cause chipotle is really spicy.

For you guys. For me, it's nothing.

We're gonna cook low and slow for at least 30 minutes.

So here we go.

[blenders whirring]

One last taste. Delicious!

My shrimp are gonna be super happy with this.

I'm going to butterfly them.

Now, the reason why I butterfly them,

number one, they will cook faster,

number two, the adobo, it will be all over their body.

This is what I meant, butterfly.

It's like [imitates swooshing].

When you cook something with the bones or the shells,

they taste even better.

I feel like the juices are still inside.

We are ready to mar marinate my skirt steak

for a few hours.

Here I have my adobo. Ah, ah, ah.

We just put a little bit because it's not really spicy,

but it can be too spicy.

I love colorful, vibrant, delicious vegetables.

And, of course, an onion.

Gotta have my onion in the fajita.

It's like a party.

[imitates dance music]

[Saul] Jalapeno. Poblano peppers.

Yeah, it's the real deal right here.

A little more pepper. Two taps.

Ah. Ah.

Do the salt, throw from high. So like that.

When you spread the salt, it's evenly,

it's not just one spot.

Look. See?

This is the marinade I use for the skirt steak.

I'm gonna use it to coat my vegetables before I cook it.

Now it's time for everybody to meet.

Everybody gotta get to know each other now.

All right. I'm gonna throw this in the oven.

Go on Hulu with biswa Sopranos. See you in a second.

You cannot have a fajita without a tortilla.

I personally like

the flour tortillas. Flour tortillas.

They soft,

you don't gotta put that much time into it

when you warming 'em up.

Today, I'm gonna be making flour tortillas.

Very simple.

I'm gonna make like a little volcano.

Who doesn't like volcanoes?

Baking powder. I'm gonna do a little bit of salt.

Just like making pasta, but without egg.

And I'm gonna let this sit in the fridge for 10, 15 minutes.

Dampen it a bit, put it on a plate and wrap my tortilla.

And right before I serve it,

I'm gonna microwave it just to warm it up.

How do we know the tortillas are ready to flip?

As soon as we start seeing little bubbles.

I think I'm gonna be making tortillas

for the next three weeks.

Two more. Two more tortillas!

I'm only gonna do two for today

because I'm trying to watch my figure and try and get right.

Doctor's orders.

Warm these up. See you later.

Let's start off with my makeshift pico de gallo.

It's gonna bring the fresh element that we need.

I use red onion because I feel like when you pickle

it tastes delicious.

A little bit of salt. Now I'm gonna let this sit here.

I'm going to cut my tomatoes. Tomatoes.

Look how beautiful. Heirloom tomatoes.

The Senor avocado. Avocado.

Cilantro. Mixy, mixy, mixy.

Delicioso!

[Desi] Sour cream.

I love sour cream.

and one of my favorite hot sauces.

I love it, love it, love it. Oh, that's so good.

So salsa. Little salsa, little salsa, salsa.

That adds swag and flavor to the fajita.

We don't wanna over mix this

because if you break the avocado, it will be very messy.

We wanna do a little bit of salt, pepper, olive oil.

Don't need that much cheese

just I wanna say a half a fist of melt.

Uh! Make it snow.

Cut your lime in four pieces.

Some keep the skin on. Some like the skin off.

I like to do half and half,

so you do your own thing at the end.

Now I'm ready to go.

First things first, I must turn on the grill.

and I want it smoking hot.

You can tell that the skirt steak's been marinated a bit

because it actually changed color.

So it's in a sense, been cooking. That's what marinade does.

It kind of tenderizes and cooks it a bit.

That is exactly what you wanna hear.

[pan sizzling]

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

I'm going to cover this with this,

so it cooks evenly, like a little trick.

[Lorenzo] I have beautiful grill marks on there,

you can see.

[Saul] My shrimp look pretty sexy.

Uno. Dos.

Shh!

You hear that?

Mm. It's talking to me.

Now, the fun part, grilling vegetables.

We're starting with the onions,

because these are the ones that they take the most time.

If you don't hear the noise,

that means you're not doing it right.

I still like that crunch.

It's okay if it's not fully, fully soft and cooked.

You're just sauteing it.

Sauteing doesn't necessarily mean

making it like, completely mush.

Keep it al dente. Low and slow.

Looks good. It's ready to go now.

Look at the peppers and the jalapeno.

Just, I don't even wanna touch it.

Is there a museum around here?

Look at that. My lemon, it's ready.

All right. Now it's time for everything together.

Let's start making a fahita!

The star of the show.

I'm gonna do a bed of fried cheese

so my vegetables can take a nap and be happy.

I put all the chicken and vegetables together

because one band, one sound.

We come together, we leave together.

So they came in a pan together,

they gonna leave in my stomach together.

I believe in teamwork.

And my shrimp. Beautiful head-on prawn shrimp.

So as I'm building it,

you know, I'm adding different levels of flavor.

Avocado, because it's a little bit sour.

But so jammy because of the onion.

Now, here's my chicken fajita dinner.

And here is my steak fajita dinner.

Full of color, full of flavors.

This is how I make my fajita.

I ain't gonna lie to you,

I can't wait to go to work on this.

I do have a technique for my tortillas.

I like to slather some sour cream,

and I do like a lot of it.

The foundation of the creation

makes everything stick together.

That's enough meat right there.

I add some salsa. Do a little dance as you add it.

[Lorenzo] I like putting my cheese on

so my cheese doesn't move.

And it's also gonna be warmed through by the hot steak

that I'll be putting on.

I like to add mezcal every time I eat,

just to digest better.

It's a digestive. A Mexican digestive.

Last but not least, a little lemon love.

I'm just gonna put some mezcal there

and then just set it on fire.

And this is how I make fajitas. Play no games!

Now, it's time to eat it.

[speaking in Spanish] [chuckling]

[upbeat music]

Now this thing's ready to disappear.

Have a good day.

Mm. Mm.

Oh God. Mm.

Mm. Mm.

Goodness!

My momma would be so proud.

This is a fahita. All we're missing is some iced tea.

Finishing it off with a crispy, delicious jalapeno.

I love it.

It's delicious. I can taste the shrimp.

It's not that spicy. The adobo, smokiness, little mild.

Man!

These are how you're supposed to make fajitas.

Cheers, guys! Thank you.

This is delicious.

Listen, I don't know. I think I have a talent.

Fajitas are tortillas filled with meat and vegetables,

served sizzling hot.

Let's see how each of our three chefs made theirs.

[dramatic music]

Desi made chicken

with a packet of seasoned fajita flavoring.

The main ingredients are cornstarch and salt.

They also contain oil, ground chili peppers and garlic,

along with silicon dioxide,

which is an anti-caking ingredient

so the powder doesn't form clumps.

The steak that I chose to use

for my fajitas is skirt steak.

Lorenzo marinated his skirt steak,

a cut traditionally used for fajitas,

in a combination of sweet, spicy, and savory ingredients,

with pineapple as a base.

[Lorenzo] My secret ingredient.

Pineapple contains bromelain,

a proteolytic enzyme that'll tenderize his skirt steak

by breaking up collagen and connective tissue

that can make his skirt steak a little tough.

Saul grilled shrimp that was marinated

and intensely seasoned by his adobo.

It included a variety of spicy chilies, tomatoes,

vinegar, and brown sugar.

He included cinnamon, considered a warming spice,

because one of its main components -

Cinnamon. Ooh!

cinnamaldehyde, imparts a spiciness

that gives some people the perception of heat or warmth.

[dramatic music]

Lorenzo included a variety of peppers.

I love colorful, vibrant, delicious vegetables.

All bell peppers start out green.

As they ripen, the chlorophyll decomposes

and a variety of carotinoids, like lutein and beta-carotene

are expressed as yellow, orange, and red.

[dramatic music]

Both Desi and Lorenzo used commercial flour tortillas.

They soft, you don't gotta put much time into 'em

when you warming 'em up.

In addition to stabilizers,

anti-molding compounds and other food additives,

they contain small amounts of chemical leavening agents

that create small bubbles

to make a porous and tender tortilla.

Saul made his own flour tortillas.

I think I'm gonna be making tortillas

for the next three weeks.

Two more. Two more tortillas!

That included a small amount of sodium bicarbonate,

or baking soda,

which gives a lightness to his tortillas

without all of the other food additives.

[dramatic music]

Desi added a drizzle of lime prior to baking.

Yeah. It's the real deal right here.

While this adds a nice, bright, acidic note

from the citric and ascorbic acids in the lime,

it also added water,

which dampened any sizzle that he might've had without it.

Lorenzo quickly sauteed his fajitas

in a super hot cast iron grill pan.

This allowed for a nice sizzle,

as well as a lot of brown and crispy parts.

Saul doused his shrimp and vegetables with mezcal,

a distilled alcoholic beverage from agave.

It has between 40% and 55% alcohol by volume,

which is pretty high.

[Saul] And then just set it on fire.

When heat energy is added,

some flavor compounds are alcohol soluble,

so you get an extra layer of flavor this way.

And of course, the flaming heat combo

caused that fantastic sizzle.

Listen, I don't know. I think I have a talent.

Cheers to you. Adios.

Fajitas are one of the few foods that announce themselves.

There are so many possibilities when it comes to fajitas.

Next time you're in the mood for this sizzling dish,

we hope you'll get some tips from our three amazing chefs.

[bright music]