Ninfa's Style Fajita's

The History of Fajitas   | The History of Ninfa's Restaurant   | Ninfa's Green Sauce

While the dish called Fajita's has it's roots in the Rio Grande, Ninfra Lorenzo is credited to putting it on the map in Texas, which then went viral around the world. Ninfa and her husband started a tortilla factory in Houston. When he died the tortilla factory had issues and Ninfa needed to find a way to feed her 5 kids. She turned part of her factory into a small cafe. Her popularity sky rocketed and Ninfa's fajita's are considred the go to for many folks.

She borrowed some money and divided the facrtory in half, starting a restaurant with 10 tables in the front. Ninfa and the family had their up's and downs running the restaurant but became very popular. One of the menu items was their fajitas.
It rose in popularity all over Texas and the dish became a favorite in America. In big part with Ninfa's help.

Her recipe is considered one of the best.

I am not sure anyone really knows the exact marinade they used, some of the family say
they never wrote it down. Who knows.

My recipe here is evolving as well as I try this and that. The basics here don't change.
The soy sauce, the pineapple juice, and I always like a bit of vegetable oil in there, it
helps the meat absorb the flavors.

Recipe from Roland Laurenzo, relative to Mama Ninfa

Combine the ingredients for the marinade, and soak the Flap Meat in it for at least 4 hours, overnight is better.

Cut the peppers in flat pieces to make it easy to char on the grill.

The Onions I cut in 1/2 inch slices and put a toothpick half way to the center to hold it together
on the BBQ.

Charcoal gives an awesome flavor. I use Mesquite. You can use a propane grill also. The important thing is to
char the vegetables and cook them so they are tender but still some bite to it.

Cook the Flap Meat to about 140-145 degrees and get a good char on both sides.
I like it to be about medium. Now let's cut them up for fajitas.

Let them rest for 5-10 minutes to let the juices set.
You can also let them cool down and reheat them later in a skillet with the peppers and pinions.

Cut the meat in about 1/4 inch slices against the grain.

I like to cut the peppers into strips that are about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide.
They have more definition. Add some of the marinade, cilantro if you want
and salt and pepper to taste.

I heat the tortilla's on the hot plate but you can also wrap them in foil and heat on the grill or oven.

If you want to make a sizzling skillet to serve at the table you need to get
the skillet really hot and then I read that you can add a liquid sauce that has some
water in it, so it will steam. Some cooks say they use a bit of the marinade, and some have
used lime or orange juice.

I served these with Ninfa's style Green Sauce and Pico de Gallo.
Black Beans topped with chopped white onion and Cilantro.
You can serve them with Guacamole also.

Ninfa's Green Sauce

a little background

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