Authentic Mexican Birria Taco Recipes

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 DE RES TACOS (BEEF BIRRIA TACOS)

Steps:

• Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Add guajillo, ancho, and arbol chile peppers; boil for 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat and allow peppers to soak until cool. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the water.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Rinse meat and pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add meat and cook until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Line a heavy cast-iron grill pan or griddle with aluminum foil and place over high heat. Arrange tomatoes in a single layer on top. Grill until tomato skin is burned on all sides and begins to peel, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Combine soaked chile peppers, cooked tomatoes, vinegar, garlic, 2 teaspoons black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, thyme, marjoram, oregano, and salt to taste in a blender. Pour in reserved 1/4 cup of chile water; blend until smooth.
• Strain chile sauce through a mesh strainer and pour over the browned meat in the Dutch oven, turning roast so it is completely covered with sauce. Cover the Dutch oven and place in the preheated oven.
• Bake, basting meat every 45 minutes with the sauce, until birria begins to fall apart, 3 to 4 hours. Remove lid and bake uncovered until birria is crispy on top, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, cover with 2 layers of aluminum foil, and allow to rest in a warm area for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, warm tortillas on a griddle. Fill each tortilla with birria and top with chopped onion and cilantro.