Birria Food

AUTHENTIC MEXICAN BIRRIA RECIPE

Steps:

• Season the meat with salt, pepper, and cumin
• Cut open the dried chiles with scissors and remove the seeds
• Fry the dried chiles with a small amount of oil in a frying pan for 2-3 minutes, moving constantly so they don't burn. Set aside
• Add the chiles from the previous step to a small pot with boiling water for about 10 minutes, or until softened.
• In the same frying pan where you fried the chiles, add 1 tablespoon of oil and cook the onions and tomatoes until they are browned. Add the garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, and all of the remaining spices except for the ground cumin and ginger. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, moving it around often.
• Add the chiles (including the water), the ingredients from the previous step, and the ginger, cumin, apple cider vinegar and water to a blender and blend until smooth. It will still be pretty thick, but that is fine. Strain and set aside the resulting sauce for the next step.
• Pour the sauce over the meat in a large bowl and cover. If using the oven or stovetop methods, you will want to marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight. If using the electric pressure cooker option, you can marinate it, but it isn't necessary.
• Follow the cooking instructions according to your preferred method below.
• Add the meat with the marinade to a large stockpot and cook over medium heat, covered, for about three hours, or until the meat falls off the bones and is easy to shred.
• Add the meat with the marinade to a large oven-safe dish and cover with aluminum foil and cook at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 2 hours or until the meat is easy to shred.
• Add the meat with the marinade (or just the meat and the marinade separately if you chose not to marinate it) to the pot of the electric pressure cooker.
• Follow instructions for your electric pressure cooker to bring it to high pressure and cook for 45 minutes. Release pressure naturally for 5 minutes and then use the quick pressure release option to release the rest of the pressure. Remove the lid per instructions and the meat will be tender and ready to shred.
• Remove the meat and shred it. You can then serve it over the soup made from the sauce that the meat cooked in or you can serve it with tortillas as tacos with cilantro, lime, onions, and salsa.

BIRRIA RECIPE

Steps:

• Place Anaheim and guajillo peppers in a saucepan and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
• Pour chiles and water into a blender; add onion, mixed spices, and salt. Blend until sauce is smooth.
• Mix stew meat, sauce, and bay leaves in a large pot; cook over medium-low heat until meat is very tender, 3 to 5 hours.

MEXICAN BIRRIA

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Toast all of the chiles on a hot griddle or in a skillet over medium heat until browned, but not burned.
• Remove the seeds and veins and discard; place the chiles in a bowl, cover them with very hot water, and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes.
• When the chiles have rehydrated, drain them.
• Place the chilies and vinegar in a blender and process to make a paste.
• In a small bowl, mix together all of the rub ingredients. Rub the meat well with this mixture.
• Coat the meat with half of the chile paste.
• Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let the meat marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Pour the 1 cup of water into a Dutch oven or deep casserole dish. Add the coarsely chopped onion, bay leaves, chopped garlic, and the remaining chile paste.
• Place the meat on a rack or steamer basket that sits just above the liquid mixture.
• Place the lid on the pot, making sure that it covers tightly, and bake for 4 hours.
• Remove the meat from the Dutch oven to a cutting board. Cut or break into pieces a little larger than bite size. Distribute the meat among 6 to 8 bowls. Add a bit of the broth to each serving, more if serving as a stew, less if for tacos.
• Serve as a soupy stew or as a taco filling with warm corn tortillas, garnished with the chopped cilantro and onion.

BIRRIA

Steps:

• The meat: Trim most of the fat from the meat (it is strong tasting); if it is a goat hindquarter, cut into 2 pieces with a cleaver, severing it through the joint at the top of the leg. Place in a large noncorrosive dish.
• The chile marinade: Heat a griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat. Tear the chiles into flat pieces and toast them a few at a time, pressing them against the hot surface with a metal spatula until they crackle and blister, then flipping them over and pressing them again. Cover with boiling water, weight with a plate to keep them submerged and soak 30 minutes. Roast the garlic on the hot griddle or skillet, turning frequently, until soft inside and blackened outside, about 15 minutes. Cool and peel.
• Drain the chiles and place in a blender jar with garlic, 1/4 teaspoon clove, 2 teaspoons lightly toasted sesame seeds and vinegar. Pulverize the cumin and peppercorns in a mortar or spice grinder, and add to the blender along with the salt and 3/4 cup water. Blend until smooth, then strain through a medium-mesh sieve. Remove 1/2 cup, stir in the sugar, cover and set aside for the final glazing. Spread the rest of the chile paste over the meat, cover and refrigerate overnight (at least 18 hours).
• Slow-steaming: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Set a roasting rack into a deep, wide kettle, a roasting pan with a rack or a stockpot. If it doesn=t sit at least 1-inch above the bottom of the pot, prop it up on custard cups, tin cans or the like. Measure in 4 cups of water, then lay the marinated meat on the rack and spread any remaining marinade over it.
• Add water to the masa (or masa harina mixture) to make a soft dough. Roll tennis ball-size pieces between your palms to make 3/4-inch ropes, then press them gently all around the top edge of your pot. Set the lid in place and press it into the masa to seal. Bake for 4 hours.
• Finishing the broth: Break the seal by tapping the hardened masa with the back of a cleaver or mallet, and take off the lid; then carefully remove the tender meat. Take out the rack, spoon the fat off the broth, then measure it. You need at least 1 quart, if necessary, add water to bring it to that level. Pour the broth into a small saucepan. Puree the tomato in a blender or food processor, add it to the broth along with the oregano, cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 45 minutes. Season with salt.
• Glazing and serving the birria: Shortly before serving, remove the bones, large pieces of gristle and excess fat from the meat, keeping the pieces of meat as large as possible. Set the meat on a baking sheet, brush lightly with the reserved chile paste glaze, then bake for 10 minutes to set the glaze.
• Either present the meat on a large platter and pass the warm broth separately, or slice the meat across the grain and serve it in deep plates, awash in the broth. Mix the onion and fresh coriander, and pass it with the lime at the table.
• Suggested Drink: Triple Distilled Perfidia Plata Tequila Sol Beer Sangrita

BIRRIA

Steps:

• Place the dried chiles into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until chiles are softened, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Pour chile sauce mixture into a blender. Add garlic, onion slice, pepper, oregano, cumin, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth.
• Layer chopped onions in the bottom of a slow cooker. Place chuck roast over onions and add bay leaves. Pour the chile sauce on top. Cook on High until beef is tender enough to shred with a fork, about 5 hours.
• Remove beef from the sauce. Continue cooking sauce until is reduced, 35 to 45 minutes. Add beef back in and season with salt.

BIRRIA TACO

Steps:

• Boil meat in just enough water to be level with the beef, along with the beef broth powder, garlic powder, bay leaves and onion until tender, about 2 hours.
• Rehydrate all chiles, marjoram, cumin and thyme in warm water for 20 minutes, then blend it. Separate the chile mixture into two equal parts. Separate the meat from the broth and pour half of the chile mixture into a saucepan with the meat. Braise, covered, for 20 minutes over medium heat. Meanwhile, simmer the broth for 20 minutes. Season to taste. Chop meat to make birria.
• Assemble by melting the Monterey Jack on a griddle or pan, then fry the tortillas with the fat from the broth or oil. Flip the tortilla over the melted cheese, then flip the tortilla again with melted cheese. Put the birria over the cheese and let it fry for 20 to 30 seconds. Serve accompanied with the broth.

BIRRIA DE RES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Prepare the chiles: Use tongs to place the poblano chiles directly over the open flame of a gas burner set to high. Cook the poblanos until totally charred all over, turning as needed, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap so the poblanos can steam. After 10 minutes, use your fingers to pull the blackened skins away from the poblanos, then remove the stems and seeds. Roughly chop the poblanos and set aside.
• While the poblano chiles steam, place a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches to cook the guajillo chiles evenly in one layer, flatten the chile halves on the hot skillet and toast them for about 15 seconds, turning once. Put the chiles in a bowl and add 2 cups hot water to help soften them. Set aside.
• Prepare the meat: Season the meat all over with the salt. Heat the oil in a large, oven-proof pot over medium-high. Working in batches, sear the meat on all sides until well browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side, transferring the browned meat to a large bowl as you work.
• After you've seared all the meat, add the onion to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Return all the meat to the pot.
• Meanwhile, add the tomatoes, vinegar, garlic, ginger, oregano, sesame seeds, cumin, cloves and a few grinds of black pepper to a blender, along with the chopped poblanos, toasted guajillos and the chile soaking liquid. Purée until smooth, scraping down the edges of the blender as needed.
• Pour the blended mixture into the pot with the meat. Add the cinnamon stick and bay leaves, along with about 4 to 6 cups of water, enough to amply cover the meat.
• Cover and cook in the oven until the meat is fork-tender, about 2 hours.
• Divide among bowls and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing on top, and a side of warm tortillas.

BIRRIA

Steps:

• PREPARE THE MEAT: Trim the fat from the meat; cut into 2 large pieces. Put meat into a large non-corrosive baking dish or pan.
• PREPARE THE MARINADE/GLAZE: Heat a griddle or large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Tear chiles into flat pieces and toast a few at a time, pressing them against the hot surface, until they crack and blister; flip them and press down again. Transfer chiles to a large bowl and cover with boiling water; weight down with a plate to keep them submerged, and soak at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, roast the garlic in the same griddle or skillet, turning frequently, until soft inside and blackened outside, about 15 minutes. Cool and peel. Drain chiles, reserving 3/4 cup soaking liquid; put chiles into a blender with garlic, cloves, sesame seeds, vinegar, cumin, peppercorns or ground pepper, and salt. Process/blend until mixture is smooth; then strain through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl. Remove 1/2 cup of mixture to a small bowl, and stir in the sugar; set aside to use for the final glazing.
• MARINATE THE MEAT: Spread the rest of the chile paste thoroughly over the meat. Cover completely and refrigerate at least 18 hours.
• COOK (SLOW-STEAM) THE MEAT: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Use a deep wide roasting pan that has a tight lid. Put a roasting rack into the bottom of the pan (it must sit at least 1 inch above the bottom of the pan---if not, prop it up with custard cups, tin cans, etc.) Measure in 4 cups of water. Then lay the marinated meat onto the rack and spread any marinade remaining in the marinating pan or dish. Cut a double thickness of heavy-duty foil to cover the roasting pan; place the pan lid over, making sure the pan is covered as tightly as possible. Bake 4 hours.
• FINISHING THE BROTH: Remove the pan lid and foil; carefully remove the tender meat to a platter. Take out the rack; spoon the fat off the broth with a ladle. Measure out the broth into a 1-quart container; add water to equal 1 quart liquid if necessary, and pour into a saucepan. Puree the tomato in a blender and add it to the broth along with the oregano and cinnamon. Cover; simmer over medium-low heat 45 minutes. Season with salt.
• GLAZE THE MEAT: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove meat from the bones, keeping pieces of meat as large as possible; discard bones, gristle and excess fat. Set meat on a baking sheet; brush lightly with reserved chile paste glaze, and bake 10 minutes to set the glaze.
• TO SERVE: Keep tortillas warm in a towel-covered basket. Serve the broth in a tureen. Present the meat on a large platter, or slice meat across the grain to serve it in deep plates, awash in the broth. Combine onion and coriander in a small bowl to pass with the lime at the table.