Birria is a traditional Mexican stew from the state of Jalisco. It is made from slow-cooked fall-apart juicy and tender goat, lamb, or beef. Marinated in a rich and flavorful red chile broth.
It’s usually enjoyed as a savory stew served with toppings like cilantro, onions, and freshly squeezed lime juice.
1.5 kg of beef chuck roast,cut into large 10-cm chunks
2large fresh Roma tomatoes
½medium white onion
2cups of beef broth
1 10-cmCinnamon stick
5garlic cloves
3Bay leaves
½tsp whole black pepper corns
Pantry Ingredients:
½tbsp salt
½ tbspblack gound pepper
1 ½tbsp of olive oil
¼cup distilled white vinegar
1tsp ground cumin
½tsp ground cloves
Water,as needed
Cooking Instructions
Season and sear: Season your meat on both sides with salt and pepper.
Set a pot over medium-high heat with olive oil, add the meat, and sear on all sides until browned.
You might need to work in two batches depending on how big your pot is. Once all meat is seared, set aside.
Soak the chiles: In a medium pot, add all of the dried chiles, tomatoes, onion, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and peppercorns, covering everything completely with water. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
Blend: Once the chiles are softened transfer everything to a blender and add 1 cup of chile-soaked water. Add in the broth, vinegar, and the remaining spices. Blend until smooth, about 5 minutes.
Cook: Strain the blended sauce into the pot with the seared meat and gently stir, and bring to a boil. Bring the heat to low, cover, and cook for 3-3 ½ hours, or until the meat is fall-apart tender.
Shred: Take the meat out to shred, and add shredded meat back to consomé.
Finally, take the meat out to shred it, then add the shredded meat back into the consomé.
Birria is traditionally somewhere between a medium to hot spice level, which is how I would classify this recipe.
For a mild spice, don’t use any arbol chiles.
For a medium spice, I recommend using 3 arbol chiles.
For a hot spice level, use anywhere from 7 to 10 arbol chiles.