Birria de Res (Beef Birria)
Birria is the type of recipe that, frankly, can intimidate. Its long list of ingredients and multiple steps - from roasting the peppers and toasting the spices, to browning the meat and pureeing the sauce - can take the better part of the morning and despite my best efforts always make a mess of my kitchen. But it is absolutely worth it, partially because the recipe makes SO much that you'll be able to eat it for days or months if you use your freezer and partially because it's just so dang good.
You'll find hundreds of recipes for Birria on the internet, so where do you start? There's no one definitive Birria recipe, and I am not Mexican so I'd never claim to offer one. What I'm offering is a recipe that I've developed from reading and eating, from using the types of ingredients easily available to me and learning where I can make substitutions and adaptations.
One other thing I love about Birria, besides it's incredible taste? All the skills it'll make you use and master to create a pot. So let's break it down a little bit.
What types of chilis should I use?
My pantry is usually home to five or six different varieties of dried chilis at a time, but Guajillo - with their medium spice level and sweet smokiness - always find a home there. If you don't keep dried chilis on hand and don't want to buy a whole bunch of different types, I'd recommend you just get Guajillo chilis. For more spice, toss in one or two Chiles de Arbol. For more smoke, try Ancho. While many grocery stores have a variety of dried chilis, you may need to visit a local Mexican market to find more variety (and it's really fun to see just how many different types they carry!)
Toasting chilis and spices
Toasting dried spices chilis and spices releases their volatile oils, enhancing their aroma and flavors. But we're toasting notburning. The key is to use your nose. You may need to put your nose within an inch or two of dried spices to really smell them, but during the toasting process, your spices and chilis will release as sudden burst of aroma that you will smell even from the other side of the kitchen. Remove them now - don't wait. They burn quickly. It only takes 10-15 seconds in a hot pan and it's easy to burn them, so don't walk away.
Roasting Peppers
Fresh peppers, like poblanos, can be roasted in the oven or directly over a gas burner. This does a couple of things - it brings out their sweetness, adds a touch of smoke, and chars the skins so that they can be easily removed from the pepper. Placing them directly over a gas burner is probably the fastest method, but more hands on. Whichever method you select, your peppers are done when the flesh has softened, and the skin has charred all over. Then you have to steam them so the skins slip right off. Just place them in a bowl with a cover for 10 minutes. You'll then be able to easily remove the skins, seeds and stems from the peppers.
Browning Meat
Okay, this one should be easy right? But in my experience, most people either under brown their meat - crowding it into the pan so that it "steams" rather than browns - or burn it over too high of heat. Use medium, not medium-high heat, leave room in between each piece of meat so that they don't end up steaming each other as they release their liquid, and work in batches. Sometimes, browning the meat is the most time consuming part of a cooking project like this but it's worth taking the time to get it right.
If all this sounds like a lot, well, you're not wrong. It's safe to say that recipes like birria come from a different time. Like boeuf bourguignon or birria are designed to take less appealing cuts of meat and transform them into something spectacularly rich and satisfying, but it takes time and patience. But, for what it's worth, once you've done it a few times, it comes together faster and faster. The initial hands-on steps of a recipe like birria now take me about 30-45 minutes. After that, it's into the oven for a few hours. At that point, I can clean up my kitchen, prep whatever garnishes I'll be using or even make tortillas by hand. But honestly, I usually just take a nap - lulled to sleep by the smell of warming spices, savory meat and toasty chilis.
Birria de Res
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Servings
6-8 servings
Prep Time
1 hour
Cook Time
3-4 hours
Ingredients
-
2 large or 3 small poblano peppers
-
5-6 driednchilis (I used 2 guajillo, 2 pasilla, and 2 ancho but you can use a mix that suits your spice tolerance)
-
1 teaspoon whole cumin seed
-
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
-
4 cloves
-
1 cinnamon stick
-
1 star anise
-
4 pounds beef shoulder, cut into large pieces
-
1 tablespoon kosher salt
-
3 tablespoons Algae Cooking Oil
-
1 can crushed tomatoes
-
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
-
6 cloves garlic
-
1 inch piece of ginger
-
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
-
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
Prepare the poblanos
Gas burner method: use tongs to place the poblano chilis directly over the open flame of a gas burner set to high. Cook the poblanos until totally charred all over, turning as needed, about two minutes per side.
Oven method: preheat the oven to 400º. Place the poblanos in a baking dish and bake for 20-30 minutes, until charred all over and softened.
Transfer to a bowl and cover so that 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.
Toast chilis and spices
Place a cast iron or carbon steel skillet or medium heat. Working in batches, cook the chiles evenly in one layer, flattening the halves on the hot skillet and toasting them for about 15 seconds per side. Put the chiles in a bowl and add 2 cups hot water to soften. Once softened, remove the chili stems and seeds.
Add the cumin seeds, cloves and sesame seeds to the pan and toast for 10-15 seconds, until fragrant. Remove and set aside in a small bowl. Add the remaining cinnamon stick and star anise to the pan and toast for 15 seconds. Set aside in a separate bowl.
Prepare the meat and onions
Season the meat all over with salt. Heat the oil in a large cast iron dutch oven or braised over medium-high. Working in batches, sear the meat on all sides until well browned, 2-3 minutes per side.
After all the meat has been browned, add the onion to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and somewhat caramelized, about 5 minutes. Return all the meat to the pot and turn off the heat.
Puree the sauce
Add the poblanos, dried chilis, chili soaking liquid, cumin seeds, cloves, can of tomatoes, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and oregano to a blender and puree on high until smooth. Pour the sauce over the meat and onions in the dutch oven. Add 4-5 cups water or beef broth so that the meat is completely covered. Nestle the cinnamon stick and star anise in the pot.
Transfer to an oven preheated to 325º F and bake for 3-4 hours, lid on, until the meat is fall-apart tender. Remove the chunks of meat from the sauce and let cool slightly. Shred, then return to the sauce. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as necessary.
To serve
Birria can be served as a stew with just a sprinkle of cilantro, fresh lime wedges and warm tortillas. It can also be turned into Queso Birria Tacos, or Birria Ramen. Rice and even beans can be cooked in the left over broth (of which there will be a lot). The broth and meat freeze well and can be thawed for a quick, hearty meal.