On the Menu Tonight – Beef Birria Tacos!
What are Birria tacos vs … tacos? Birria tacos are made with slow cooked meat, traditionally goat, or beef and are served with the broth the meat cooked in – a consomé. You dip the taco in the consomé, like you would a French Dip. They originated in Jalisco, Mexico.
As it turns out, this is a pretty easy dish to make. You may have to go to a Mexican grocery store or order the guajillo and pasillo peppers. Otherwise, you probably have what you need to make birria. For my first try, I used beef for the protein (one day I may try the goat). Even using beef, you have choices to make. You can use chuck roast or short ribs. You want some fat as it’s delicious and you’ll use the rendered fat later in the process.
Take the time to lightly toast the peppers and garlic to develop richer, deeper flavors. That process goes pretty quickly. Soak the peppers in hot water for about 10 minutes after you toast them. You’ll use a high power blender (like a Vitamix), to blitz the peppers, water, and garlic. If you don’t have a Vitamix, blend as best you can, and then strain the liquid as the pepper pieces (say that ten times) can be kind of leathery. Add some salt, Mexican oregano, and cumin to the peppers and garlic.
Once you have the marinade ready, pour it over the beef, add three cups water and one cup beef broth (I used Better Than Bouillon with a cup of water). Put it in the oven for three hours and you’re most of the way there.
When the beef is cooked, pull it from the oven, take it out of the pot, and let it cool enough to shred. In the meantime, if you have a fat separator, now is the time to use it. I don’t have one, so I used a small ladle to remove as much fat from the top of the consomé as I could. Save the fat! You’ll use that fat to brown the shredded beef.
There are a few more steps, but at this point, you’ll dip the corn tortillas in the consomé and add them (one or two at a time, whatever your pan will allow), top with some of the browned beef as the tortilla cooks. Add a little diced white onion and cilantro along with a squeeze of lime. Serve with a cup or small bowl of the consomé and you’re living large!
So, the next time you are in the mood for some authentic Mexican tacos, I hope you will try this recipe!
Beef Birria Tacos
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...Beef Birria Tacos
Ingredients
- 8-10 Beef Short Ribs / 3-4 lbs Chuck Roast
- 3-4 Guajillo peppers
- 3-4 Pasillo peppers (if you only have one or the other, that's fine)
- 1-2 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1-2 tsp cumin
- 1 Tbsp beef bouillon + 1 cup water
- 1 small white onion, finely diced
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
- 5 cloves garlic
- Corn tortillas, approx 15-20
- Kosher salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
Pre-heat a griddle or cast iron pan over low to medium heat
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees
De-seed the guajillo and pasillo peppers
Rip or cut the peppers into pieces that can be pushed flat
Smash the garlic cloves, but leave them in the garlic paper
Lightly toast the peppers and the garlic
Put the toasted peppers and garlic in the blender along with one cup of water
Blend until smooth
Add the oregano and cumin, then give it one more quick blitz
Put the short ribs in a large heavy pot (Dutch oven would be perfect)
Season with salt and freshly ground pepper
Cover the meat with the blended pepper and garlic mixture
Add two cups of water and one cup of beef broth
Put the pot in the oven, covered for 2 and a half hours
Check level of the consomé. If it looks like there isn't enough liquid for another hour of cooking, add a cup or so of water
Put the pot back in the oven for another hour
Prepare the onions and cilantro, along with any other toppings you may want on the tacos
Once the meat has finished cooking in the oven, take it out and shred it with tongs and a fork
Use a ladle and carefully take some of the fat from the top of the consomé, put it in a pan and put in some of the shredded meat to give it a little crisp
Take out the meat and set aside
Dip one or two tortillas in the consomé, then put in the hot pan that you crisped the meat
As the tortilla cooks, top with some meat, along with some diced onion and chopped cilantro
Repeat until you have enough tacos to serve
Serve the tacos with a cup or bowl of the consomé
Enjoy!
