What if you wanted to make a Mexican stir-fry? How would you begin?

Well, like any stir-fry, you would start with the meat. In this case, boneless beef short ribs, cut into short, across-the-grain pieces so they cook quickly. Next, you would massage them with a spice rub—mostly garlic and cumin—and let the meat sit while you sauté the onion. The beef goes in and is cooked quickly—the pieces are small. Then you add the sauce ingredients—tomatoes, red bell pepper and jalapeño—and cook the mixture for 15 minutes. Not a classic stir-fry, but every bit as good.

This recipe, puntas de res, was taught to me by Paola Briseño-González, a food writer who grew up in Puerto Vallarta and then ended up in Los Angeles. What I love about this recipe, besides the flavor, is its simplicity—a quick skillet dinner with limited ingredients. Puntas, by the way, refers to the small-cut pieces (its actual translation is the “tip” of something). The term is used in other recipes, such as puntas a la Veracruzana, another skillet dish but made with pork. It is also thought that this recipe is the precursor to fajitas, but that may be just another example of make-it-up-as-you-go culinary history.

What is true about puntas is that you develop a lot of flavor quickly, which is the essence of stir-­fry. The seasonings do the work, not the time in the pan. And that is pretty much the message of Milk Street. Start with big flavors; end with big flavors. Sure beats making boeuf bourguignon in terms of return on time and effort!

Christopher Kimball

Christopher Kimball is founder of Milk Street, which produces Milk Street Magazine, Milk Street Television on PBS, and the weekly public radio show Milk Street Radio. He founded Cook’s Magazine in 1980 and was host and executive producer of America’s Test Kitchen until 2016. Kimball is the author of several books, including "The Yellow Farmhouse" and "Fannie’s Last Supper."