Mexican
Birria
Jalisco-style birria with tender chile-braised meat and a deep red consomé rich enough for dipping, sipping, and staining tortillas.
8 servings · 70 minutes prep · 270 minutes cook
Ingredients
Main
- 4 1/2 lb bone-in goat, lamb shoulder, or beef chuck
- 6 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 3 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 2 dried chile de arbol, stemmed
- 1/3 cup white vinegar
- 4 Roma tomatoes, charred
- 1 white onion, charred
- 8 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp marjoram
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 3 cloves
- 1-inch cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 cups beef or chicken stock
Directions
Method
- Preheat the oven to 300°F before assembling the Dutch oven.
- Toast the guajillo chiles, ancho chiles, and chile de arbol until the skins darken slightly and become pliable, with a toasted aroma but no scorched spots, 20-30 seconds per side. Soak in hot water for 15 minutes, then drain.
- Blend the soaked chiles, white vinegar, charred Roma tomatoes, charred white onion, garlic, kosher salt, Mexican oregano, dried thyme, marjoram, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of the stock until smooth. Strain the adobo.
- Coat the goat, lamb shoulder, or beef chuck with the adobo, cover, and refrigerate for 12 hours.
- Place the meat, adobo, bay leaves, and remaining stock in a Dutch oven. Cover and bake at 300F until the meat is very tender, 3 1/2-4 hours.
- Lift out the meat and shred it into large pieces. Skim and reserve the red fat from the consome.
- Return the meat to the consome and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with a spoonful of the reserved red fat on top.
