Birria Tacos with Consomme
Birria tacos are very close to the perfect taco. With the proper hot sauce and garnishes, they deserve a home amongst the best.
Equipment
Ingredients
Adobo Ingredients
- 8 dried guajillo chiles - stemmed, seeded, and deveined
- 15 dried arbol chiles - stemmed and seeded
- 6 cloves garlic - peeled
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 3 whole cloves
- 2 tsp. Mexican oregano
- 1/2 cinnamon stick - about 1-1/2 inches
- 2 tsp. whole peppercorns
- 1 tbs. white vinegar
Birria
- 6 lbs. beef short ribs - or substitute 4-5 lbs. chuck roast
- 1 tbs. chicken bouillon paste - 1 tbs. or enough to make 3 cups of stock according to the instructions
- 1 large yellow onion - peeled and chopped into large chunks
- 4 cloves garlic - peeled and smashed
- 5 bay leaves
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 22 corn tortillas
- 2 tbs. vegetable oil
- 8 oz. queso asadero or Oaxaca cheese - or other melting cheese (substitute Monterrey Jack if queso asadero is unavailable)
- 3 tbs. cilantro - chopped
- 1/4 small white onion - diced
Instructions
The Day Before Serving
- Season beef short ribs on all sides with salt, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
The Day of Serving
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Seed, stem, and devein the chiles (just stem the arbol chiles and shake out the seeds, no ned to de-vein). Arrange on a cookie sheet with a little space between and toast in the oven for 6-7 minutes.
- Add chiles and garlic to a pot with enough water to fully cover them. Cover with lid and bring to a simmer. Cook until the chiles are very soft. About 30 minutes.
- Add all of the adobo ingredients to a blender. Blend very well, adding a couple of cups of the cooking liquid to properly blend to a very smooth puree. 2-5 minutes.
- Add all of the adobo paste back into the cooking liquid, along with the chicken bouillon paste, whisk thoroughly.
- Working in batches, brown the ribs on all sides.
- Pour the cooking liquid into a very large dutch oven and dissolve the bouillon paste into it. Whisk thoroughly. Add the ribs to the pot and add enough water to almost cover. Add onion, garlic, bay leaves, and salt. Bring to a simmer.
- Cut off a piece of foil large enough to fold over once and cover the top of the dutch oven. Place it on the pot, then tightly push the lid down over it so that it functions as a gasket.
- Place the pot in the oven and cook for 3 hours or until fork-tender.
- Take the pot out of the oven, and remove the meat. Shred with a fork, discarding the bones and gristle. Add 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid back into the meat and stir well.
- Spoon off any fat that has risen to the surface of the dutch oven and discard.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat until hot. Dip the corn tortillas into the broth to wet both sides, then place on the skillet. Don't flip until the tortilla firms up. (follow the cooking steps above to make this step easy for you)
- Once you flip the tortilla, add some of the shredded meat and cheese. Fold over and fry on each side until somewhat crisp.
- Serve with a bowl of the broth, cilantro, fresh onions, and hot sauce.
Notes
Since you're cooking a large amount of tacos, you can set your oven to 170 degrees F and keep the cooked tacos warm on a cookie sheet while you cook the rest. This will keep the first batch of tacos from getting cold before the last ones are done. If servings for 6 is too much, they make great leftovers. You can also assemble only half of the tacos, then freeze the leftover meat and broth for later use.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!