Chicken Fajitas

Method

1. marinate25 min
   lime, half the oil, spices and garlic; 25 minutes to 4 hours, refrigerated
   chicken + lime juice + 1 tbsp oil + cumin + chili powder + smoked paprika + garlic + oregano + 1 tsp salt (+ chipotle). Twenty-five minutes is enough to matter and four hours is the ceiling — the acid works on the surface only, and beyond that it turns the outer layer opaque and mealy rather than seasoning it more deeply
2. slice8 min
   peppers and onion cut thick — about 1 cm — onion pole to pole not across
   peppers + onion sliced deliberately thick. Thin strips collapse into softness before they can take colour, and the point of a fajita vegetable is char with some bite left. Cutting the onion pole to pole rather than into rings follows the cell structure, so the pieces hold together instead of falling apart into shreds
3. sear8 min
   cast iron, remaining oil, smoking hot, chicken in one uncrowded layer, undisturbed 2-3 minutes
   chicken wiped free of excess marinade and seared hard, in two batches, until browned in patches and just cooked through, then removed. Wipe it dry — wet marinade steams instead of searing, and its sugars burn to bitter carbon. Do not stir for the first two minutes; contact time is what builds the crust
4. char7 min
   same pan, still very hot, peppers and onion, barely stirred
   + peppers + onion in the chicken fat and residue, left to blister and blacken in spots before turning. You are aiming for actual char, not softness — those black patches are where the flavour that distinguishes fajitas from a stir-fry comes from. Salt them now, not earlier; salt draws water to the surface and wet vegetables cannot char
5. fold3 min
   chicken returned, off the heat, remaining salt and a squeeze of lime
   + chicken + remaining salt + a final squeeze of lime, tossed briefly to combine and pick up the pan residue. Fresh acid at the end is doing a different job from the acid in the marinade — that one seasoned and tenderised, this one lifts and brightens, and its aroma survives only because nothing cooks it off
6. toast4 min
   tortillas over a dry pan or open flame, 20 seconds a side, stacked in a towel
   tortillas warmed until pliable and lightly spotted, then stacked in a folded cloth so they steam each other soft. A cold tortilla cracks when rolled; a stack wrapped in cloth stays warm and flexible for twenty minutes. Serve immediately (+ sour cream, + guacamole, + cheese, + cilantro)