Birria, like most Mexican dishes, is served with corn tortillas or tostadas and limes (a refreshing squeeze of lime in the hot broth is a match made in Mexican heaven). Because they are more resilient and can support the meat and consommé, the latter is preferable. A frigid beer will cool the spice.
Prep Time for Homemade Beef Birria:
Cooking Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes;
Servings: four to six
Ingredients:
- Ten dried arbol chilies (10g), with the stems and seeds taken out and thrown away, divided
- Six (30g) dried guajillo chilies, with the stems and seeds taken out and thrown away
- Two dried anchovies (25g), with the stalks and seeds taken off and thrown away
- Five ripe tomatoes (about one pound), cut in half
- One large, roughly sliced white onion
- Three big garlic cloves
- One teaspoon of cumin powder
- One spoonful of dried oregano from Mexico
- Half a teaspoon of black peppercorns
- One and a half tablespoons of kosher salt
- Three teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
- Two teaspoons of olive oil
- Two pounds of beef chuck, sliced into pieces that are 3/4 inch
- Two dehydrated bay leaves
- Two cups of beef stock
- One cup of water
- To taste, add pepper and salt.
- White onion, cut finely, as a garnish.
- Fresh cilantro, cut finely, as a garnish
- wedges of lime as a garnish
Let’s begin:
Rehydrate and toast the chiles:
Bring three cups of water to a boil in a pot over high heat.
Heat a big skillet over medium heat in the meantime. Add all of the guajillo and ancho chiles, along with six chiles de arbol, and toast for one to two minutes. (The birria will be garnished with the remaining four chiles de arbol.) When the chiles start to smell tasty, they are ready.
Pour the boiling water over the roasted chiles in a medium bowl. Let them soak for 20 minutes, or until they are tender.
Heat the same skillet that was used to toast the chiles over medium-high heat to char the garlic and veggies. Add the garlic, onion, and tomatoes. Char them lightly all over, stirring now and then. You’ll need fifteen to twenty minutes for this.
In a blender, combine the rehydrated chiles, soaking water, charred veggies, cumin, oregano, peppercorns, salt, and vinegar to make the red chile sauce. Blend until a smooth, brilliant crimson sauce is achieved. This flavor is your consommé’s base taste.
In a blender, combine the peppers, tomatoes, and onions.
Heat the olive oil in a pot over high heat to prepare the birria. Add the red chile sauce and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
Stir in the beef, bay leaves, water, and beef stock. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat until it simmers. Cover the saucepan and bring it to a boil for two hours.
Get the garnishes ready:
Three tiny dishes with garnishes will be available for you: One with cilantro and finely chopped onion combined.In a different small bowl, roughly crumble the remaining 4 chiles de arbol with your hands. The lime wedges will be kept in the final bowl.
Take the pot off of the burner and shred the steak. Move the meat into a big bowl using a slotted spoon. Return the meat to the pot after shredding it with two forks. If necessary, adjust the seasoning with salt and black pepper after tasting your birria.
Make Your Own Beef Birria Birria is a delicious blend of tender, slow-cooked beef and a flavorful, spicy broth. You can use it to make birria tacos or serve it plain!
Birria is a stew made with beef, goat, or lamb that originated in Jalisco, Mexico. I use meat in this recipe. The beef gets soft and is served shredded in the rich, spicy consommé, which is a strongly fragrant crimson stew cooked with dried Mexican chiles, herbs, spices, and aromatics. It’s a stew that uses clever methods and minimal work to build taste layers upon layers.
Expert Advice for the Greatest Consommé Flavor
In the very flavorful consommé, the beef cooks slowly. It’s crucial that it tastes well because of this. The following advice will help you get a consommé that is full of flavor:
I use a combination of dried ancho, guajillo, and arbol chilies. Instead of using just one kind of chile, the combination produces a sauce that is earthy, fiery, and incredibly flavorful.
Before immersing the dried chiles in hot water to rehydrate them, it’s crucial to give them a quick toast. The flavors and scents of the chilies are awakened by toasting. They combine more easily into a smooth sauce after being rehydrated.
The consommé is combined with lightly roasted tomatoes, onions, and garlic, all of which contribute additional flavor. There’s no need to add oil to the pan because you want these veggies to get scorched.
For more taste, use beef or chicken stock rather than merely water.
The main ingredients of birria—and Mexican cookery in general—are cumin, dried oregano, and bay leaves. Mexican dried oregano, which is used in this recipe, is more flavorful than other types and is more earthy, bitter, and aromatic.
Three Recipes for Birria
This is my favorite way to make birria, so I cook it on the stovetop. For low and slow cooking, use a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, both of which hold heat well. Meat can become lovely and tender in two hours if it is sliced into bite-sized pieces.
When you want to set and forget the birria, this method is ideal. Cook it in a slow cooker. Turn the heat up to high in the slow cooker. It will require roughly six hours.
Utilizing an Instant Pot, prepare the birria: Hasty? Set a pressure cooker or Instant Pot to high pressure. In an hour, the birria will be prepared.
Traditional Substitutions That Taste Just as Good
Although this recipe asks for beef chuck, you can substitute any stewing meat, such as goat or lamb shoulder. You want to use a tough meat, such as brisket, round, or shank beef, that softens as it cooks slowly.
Replace the guajillo with cascabel or Anaheim chiles, the ancho with mulato or pasilla chiles, and the chiles de arbol with pequin chilies. They are all regarded as Mexican chile varietals.
Serving Birria
Bowls of soft beef and a ladle or two of the consomé accompany the birria. It is simply topped with the traditional pairing of freshly sliced white onions and cilantro. Another layer is added with a small pinch of crushed dry chiles de arbol.
Serve:
Garnish with crushed chiles de arbol, cilantro, onions, and lime served warm in a dish. Savor it and make birria tacos with leftovers!
Keep leftovers in the freezer for up to a month or in a closed container for up to a week. Reheat in a pot over the stove with a little water or beef stock after defrosting overnight in the fridge.
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Nutritional Information (per portion)
388 calories
52g Protein,
12g Carbs,
15g Fat