Steak Tostadas with Mango Slaw

A special correspondence from Sara Tane

HEY TEAM! Eric fell into his KitchenAid earlier this week and wasn’t able to muster up an email, so I’m taking over.* These undeniably spunky words that you are reading are coming from me, Sara Tane, and I’m a private chef and recipe developer based in Los Angeles. I’m also the author of This Shit Rocks, a newsletter about the things I love and the recipes I develop, right here on Suhhhhstack.

Come over and join the fun! We’re making feta orzo salad with WHOLE lemon vinaigrette, Calabrian chile-honey butter roast chicken with cabbage, spinach-feta chicken burgers, and passion fruit pie!!!

[Editor’s note: You can find Eric’s recipe for coconut caramel chocolate chip cookies on Sara’s Substack right now!]

Last week, I was outside of my home territory while visiting New York city to see one of my dear friends from high school get married. While I was in town, I happened to find myself in easygayoven HQ (dreams really do come true). Eric and I had what could only be described as an illegal amount of fun. So much fun that he has made the fateful (and perhaps regrettable) decision to hand over the keys to his critically acclaimed Substack to ME this week. Buckle up, girls.

While I was at his apartment, he made me his coconut caramel chocolate chip cookies and in return, I made him these seared steak tostadas. A truly symbiotic relationship, if you ask me. He also had some leftover confetti crumble cake, which has taken up a majority of my head space since the second I saw it on my feed. I got to try it and nearly fell to my knees. God bless Eric, and god bless SPRINKLES.

Both of us spend a majority of our professional lives shooting content at home alone in our kitchens, so getting to do the job with a buddy always feels like a fun little treat. It means you have an extra pair of hands to help hold the camera, another brain to bounce ideas off of, and most importantly, an extra body to help tackle the sink full of dirty dishes.

If there’s any recipe that could properly introduce myself to you, dear subscriber and person who clearly already has great taste because you’re tuned into the magic that is Eric’s baking, this steak tostada would be a pretty accurate peek into my kind of recipe. It’s packed with crunchy textures, bright, herbaceous flavors, a juicy protein, and a colorful vegetal moment. My very specific kink is using fruit in savory dishes, and you’re getting that here, too, because there’s mango in the slaw.

I visited Mexico a few weeks ago and one of the overarching conclusions of this trip is that I am not consuming nearly enough tortillas and avocados (and passion fruit margaritas) in my day-to-day life. Why is that? Well, this tostada is my attempt to change that.

If cooking steak feels intimidating, you can always grab a meat thermometer to ensure that you’re cooking it to your desired doneness. Allowing the steak to marinate for at least an hour will both tenderize the protein while imparting a ton of flavor. If you have access to a grill, go ahead and light her up. The method is exactly the same as cooking it in a skillet on the stove.

*This is a joke.

Seared Steak Tostadas with Mango Slaw

Serves: 4-6

Active time: 25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

For the steak:

• ¼ cup red wine vinegar

• ¼ cup olive or vegetable oil

• 1 orange, zested and juiced

• 1 lime, zested and juiced

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin

• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 ½ pounds flank steak, trimmed of fat and silver skin

• To assemble:

• 6 corn tortillas

• 1 cup neutral oil

• 3 ripe avocados

• 2 limes, juiced, plus more wedges for serving

• Sour cream and cotija cheese

For the slaw:

• 2 ripe mangos, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced

• ¼ cup thinly sliced red cabbage

• ¼ cup thinly sliced green cabbage

• ½ bunch fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped, plus more for serving

• 1 small jalapeño, thinly sliced

• 1 small watermelon radish, thinly sliced into matchsticks

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 lime, zested and juiced

• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. In a large baking dish, whisk vinegar, oil, orange zest, orange juice, lime zest, lime juice, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, and oregano. Add steak and toss to coat. Let sit in marinade for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours, flipping steak half way through. Refrigerate if marinating for longer than 1 hour. Remove steak from fridge 2 hours before you plan to cook it.

2. Meanwhile, make the tostadas. In a small skillet over medium heat, add oil (it should be about ½ inch of oil) until barely smoking (you can tell the oil is hot when you add a wooden spoon to the oil, it should bubble immediately). Using tongs and working one tortilla at a time, gently place in oil and cook until puffed and crispy, 2-3 minutes per side. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and season with salt. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

3. In a small bowl, mash the avocado with lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. *Cook the steak. In a large (preferably cast-iron) skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over high heat. Add steak and cook until steak becomes browned around the edges, 5-7 minutes. Cook on second side to desired doneness (125F for medium rare). Transfer steak to a sheet pan and let rest for 8 minutes. Thinly slice against the grain.

5. Make the slaw. In a large bowl, add mangos, cabbages, cilantro, radish, and jalapeño. Toss with oil, lime juice, lime zest, and vinegar, then season to taste with olive oil.

6. Assemble the tostadas. Spread each tostada with avocado mixture, then top with a few dollops of sour cream. Layer with a few slices of steak, then top with a heaping pile of slaw. Garnish with cotija and cilantro. Repeat with remaining tostadas and serve immediately.

*You can also grill the steak. Preheat a grill to medium high heat and cook the steak until charred and cooked to desired temperature (about 5-7 minutes per side, covered, depending on thickness of steak). You can also use a grill press (on the grill or on the stove) to weigh down the steak while cooking for even and deep caramelization throughout.