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Birria de Res Tacos

This recipe was adapted from studying an article in and recipes from the NY Times as well as a recipe from Margarita Carrillo Arronte.

Course Entree, Stew
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword bison, tacos

Ingredients

For marinade:

  • 7 dried California chilies, cut open and deseeded*
  • 3 dried chile de arbol*
  • 3 dried aji amarillo chiles, cut open and deseeded*
  • 3 dried Wiri Wiri chile peppers*
  • 4 whole cloves
  • 4 whole allspice
  • 1 2-3 inch Ceylon cinnamon stick
  • 6 whole black peppercorns
  • 1 t whole cumin seeds
  • 6 whole garlic cloves
  • Water from soaking the chili peppers as needed
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 T (scant) ground ancho (I did not have whole)
  • 2 t Mexican oregano
  • 2 t minced fresh ginger
  • 1/2 t ground ginger
  • 1 T salt

Making the stew:

  • 3-4 lbs braising cut of red meat-I used bison chuck, cut into large chunks**
  • 1 lb meaty bones or soup bones (Wild Idea Buffalo sells their bones separately)
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 15-oz can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 small-medium white or yellow onion, chopped
  • 1/2 t dried thyme

For the tacos:

  • corn tortillas, the fresher the better
  • 1-2 T lard (if you used a lean meat like bison; if you used a fattier meat, remove 1-2 tablespoons of fat from the surface of the stew)
  • shredded cabbage
  • chopped cilantro
  • finely diced white onion, soaked in cold water for 15 minutes and then drained
  • lime wedges

Instructions

Make the marinade:

  1. Toast the dried chile peppers until darkened and fragrant. Place in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside.

  2. Toast the whole spices (except cumin) until fragrant. Then add the cumin seeds and toast, stirring, until the cumin is also fragrant. Do not let any of the spices burn.

  3. If you have something like a wet-dry grinder or Vita-Mix, you can make the marinade in one go. If you only have a blender, you will need to grind the spices separately in a spice grinder.

  4. Combine all of the marinade ingredients (whole spices ground if you are using a blender) in a blender or grinder-blender. Be certain to reserve the dried chile pepper soaking water. Grind everything into a smooth paste--use the chile pepper soaking water to help move it if it is too dry.

  5. Coat the meat (or meat and bones) with all of the marinade. Place in the fridge overnight.

The next day, making the birria de res:

  1. If you are using a Dutch oven to braise the stew in the oven, preheat the oven to 350 F. Otherwise just make sure the slow cooker or pressure cooker is ready.***

  2. Shake the marinade off of the meat (but reserve it) and then brown the meat and bones.*** Remove the meat and then deglaze the pan with dry white wine. Be sure to scrape up all of the tasty bits so you can add them, with their liquid from the wine and the reserved marinade, to the pot you will be cooking in.

  3. Add the meat to the cooking pot. Mix in the water and onions. Crumble the dried thyme in with your fingers to help release its oils. I prefer lower and slower if not using the pressure cooker, in which case cover firmly and place in the oven and reduce the heat to 300 F and cook for 3-4 hours (if using lean meat like bison, check it at the 3 hour mark). If using a slow cooker, 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low--and once again if using a leaner cut of meat check it sooner rather than later. I chose to use the pressure cooker, in which case everything was combined in my Instant Pot, the lid was locked, and I cooked it for 40 minutes on high pressure and let it release for 10 minutes naturally before venting it.****

Assembling the tacos

  1. Corn tortillas are always better freshly heated. For birria they are often heated in fat from the stew. Bison however is quite lean, so I used lard with a few drops of the stew liquid for flavor. Tacos inevitably become short order cook food in my house, with people taking the tortillas as soon as they come off the pan and assembling their tacos.

  2. At any rate use a little of the fat in a heated (medium) skillet, I usually use nonstick, and heat the tortilla on each side for about 20 seconds. Tacos made with birria de res are often dipped into the cooking broth, so I recommend 2 tortillas per taco.

  3. Layer 2 hot tortillas on a plate. Place meat (if it is not falling apart on its own, shred it by chopping up a bit but it should be quite tender) down the center of the taco. Ladle some of the broth into a bowl.

  4. Garnish the taco with cabbage, cilantro and chopped onions. Squeeze some lime over it if desired.

  5. Dip the tacos into the stew--quickly!--and then take a bite. Repeat. The last bite probably cannot be dipped. Alas.

Recipe Notes

*Guajillo was the most commonly used dried chile pepper in the recipes I researched--and of course the one dried chile pepper I did not have on hand. I used a variety of what I had around, but feel free to use all guajillo or a mix of guajillo with some others to your heat tolerance. Likewise, I did not have any whole dried ancho chile peppers, but I always have ground so I also added that.

**Ideally you would use 5 lbs of a bone in red meat braising cut. I was intent upon using bison, and Wild Idea Buffalo sells their bones separately so I added them separately. Do not skip the bones!

***Like all pressure cooker/slow cooker recipes, how you choose to cook the stew depends on convenience (will you be home if you want it to cook all day in the oven?) and time (do you have time to slow cook it or would the pressure cooker be easier?). If you are using a Dutch oven and braising the stew in your oven, brown it in the pot. If you are using a slow cooker or pressure cooker, I prefer browning the meat separately in a stainless steel pan.

****As always when using a pressure cooker, check your model for best recommendations for time to cook meat stew. If using a lean meat like bison, err on the side of shorter time and be prepared to add a few more minutes at high pressure if it is not yet fork tender when you release the pressure. Meat with a lot of fat, like a beef chuck, will have more room for error in terms of overcooking and drying out.