A Noble Wolf wrote to The Wolf about the dif between carne asada and steak
fajitas


"Some people like to argue the fine points...
Fajitas ("little makings") are narrow strips of thin *raw* beef which
you briefly fry with vegetables before eating.
Carne asada is the same beef, not sliced so narrow, *after* frying in
a pan (or roasting over dry heat).
To me, carne asada is usually tough and dry and too chewy after being
overcooked on a grill in a taqueria, aka "Mexican restaurant", so I
don't order it."


Booger, where did you come up with this information:

Little makings? I understand it to be" belt "or gridle refering to the
skirt
cut.
how does cutting the meat before or after cooking makes a difference?

The size of the cut makes it different? if so how wide are the two cuts to
make them different?

Taqueria is a Mexican restaurant?

Here are some basic information links that may help you :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fajita
http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmexican.html#fajitas
http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/mexico.htm

Simplisticaly, carne adasa is generic for grilled/roasted meat, arrachera is
cut-specific from the plate, a skirt steak! Which is different, yet oft
subbed with the similiar flank steak hence the more generic carne asada but
can be region specific if one does not know what a real skirt steak is and
uses flank.

The fajita is a Tex Mex name given to the arrachera which was
very cut specific. The now TexMex Fajita is mostly commericialized to mean
any
sliced up meat, usually with something one might call an citric sauce. The
quality of
the meat, seasonings, side dishes and presentation are usually dependent on
price and establishment.

So again what is the difference? For me it is still in the cut of the meat
, the skirt steak.

also see Arrachera a La Parrilla, Barbacoa