Beef Birria

 

Ingredients

3 (8 ounce) short ribs

1 (2 1/2 pound) beef chick

4 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp. dried Mexican oregano

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

7 dried guajillo chilies

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, roughly chopped

6 cloves garlic, peeled

1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced

3 large tomatoes, cored and chopped

2 cups water

3 bay leaves

1 Tbsp. honey

1/4 C. white vinegar

4 C. chicken broth

2 Tbsp. finely diced white onion (for garnish)

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro (for garnish)

1 medium lime, sliced (for garnish)

 

Directions

1. Cut each short rib through the middle, all the way down to the bone. Cut beef chuck in half; cut each half into 3- to 4-inch pieces.

2. Place beef chuck and short ribs into a soup pot and season with salt, black pepper, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, and cloves. Toss very thoroughly until the meat is evenly coated with the spices, 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Cover and transfer into the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

4. Prep guajillo chilies by snipping stems with scissors; slice open and scrape or shake out the seeds onto a plate to discard.

5. Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add dried guajillo chilies and toss in the hot oil, about 30 seconds. Add the 1 chopped onion, garlic, and ginger; toss to combine. Add tomatoes and water, raise heat to high, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 30 minutes.

6. Turn off heat and use an immersion blender to blend the mixture as smooth as possible, or transfer to a regular blender, working in batches as needed.

7. Remove the soup pot with meat from the refrigerator. Strain the reserved chili mixture into the pot using a large mesh strainer. Add bay leaves, honey, vinegar, and chicken broth.

8. Bring to boil over high heat, and then lower to medium-low. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the meat is falling-apart tender, 3-4 hours. Skim fat off of the top and reserve for future birria queso tacos.

9. Place some chunks of beef into a soup bowl and ladle some of the cooking liquid over top. Top with white onion and chopped cilantro and squeeze lime juice over top.

Notes: Another tasty recipe that John made. Plan for a lot of time to make this recipe. It seems that ours turned out much less liquidy than the source photos seems to show, but I don't remember feeling like it needed to have more liquid. The source has a note that water or broth can be added as needed to Keep the stew brothy as it simmers, but that it can also be allowed to reduce and thicken as it cooks. We shredded our meat. We also reserved the fat and made delicious tacos the next day by placing meat and cheese in a corn tortilla, folding it in half and frying it in the reserved fat. It was delicious!

Source: AllRecipes.