There’s few things in this world I like more than braising meat on a lazy NFL Sunday, and I’m not sure what that says about me as a person. When it comes to braising meat, there are few dishes I find more intoxicating than braised beef birria. I’m excited to share my take on this magical, tender treat with you.

Birria tacos are one of Mexico’s many delicious creations, originating in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. They feature slow-cooked, seasoned beef or goat served in soft corn tortillas with a side of consommé for dipping. It is traditionally a celebratory dish served at large gatherings because of its ability to please a crowd, but I’m just celebrating life today and have the appetite of a small Mexican wedding con muchos tíos y tías.

My first introduction to birria tacos was in Williamsburg from a food truck with a line stretched a half a block long (shoutout Birria Landia). I have a longstanding opinion that there is nothing in this city worth waiting in line more than 30 minutes for, but seeing how quickly the line moved and how popular the placed seemed to be I gave it a shot. The tacos were amazing, but the real standout was the consommé. Dipping every bite in that rich broth was a delicious mess, and reaching the bottom of the my cup felt like a real disappointment. I got a couple containers to take home, and later filled my bathtub with it and went snorkeling.

Fast forward to a recent trip to the Jalisco state of Mexico, the birthplace of birria as far as I understand. Here street food and Tequila were the MVPs of the trip, as was expected. I followed an intoxicating aroma and dragged my girlfriend to a shack selling only birria (una Birriaria) with no menu and only two options, chico and grande. Naturally, I told the 12 year old that took our order to bring me the grande size with a cerveza on the side.

The birria here was much more simplistic than that I had experienced with its American cousin, but no less delicious. The meat was chopped smaller than the large strands of pulled beef I enjoy from Birria Landia, but the flavor from the dried chilis was intense. The broth didn’t feature the punch of lime juice, cilantro, or onions, but was well-seasoned, tomato-y, and rich.

For my birria recipie, I split the difference between a rich, spiced tomato-y broth and a thinner, brighter one. The non-negotiable for me here is three chilis: Guajilo Peppers, Chile de Árbol, and Ancho Chilis, either dried or powdered. I buy them powdered at my local spice purveyor (shoutout Sullivan Street Spice Shop) but I have used whole dried peppers with success as well, just make sure you remove or blend before serving. I also am pretty heavy on the cilantro and lime in the consommé, but I add it at the end to keep it tasting bright and fresh. Adding before the braise can dull the fresh flavors down a bit too much for my liking.

The beauty of this, like with any dish featuring an extended braise, is you can experiment with pretty low stakes. Play around with the spice level, add other citrus juice (orange, grapefruit, etc), throw a jar of your favorite salsa in the broth, it really doesn’t matter. Braising beef is as close to foolproof as you can get, as long as you cook it long enough. Don’t ever play yourself and braise a 2lb chuck less than 6 hours, ideally you’d let it go for as close to 8 as you can get.

When serving, the Mexicans keep it simple with just a few lime wedges and onions. The gringo in my likes to add a little cheese on the tortilla (a mild soft melting cheese works best, like mozzarella), avocado, and top it with some crumbled cojita and pickled onions. Either way, make sure you have a bowl of consommé on the side and are slurping that shit up with every bite.

You’ve got 12+ hours of football to watch today, so do yourself a favor and braise some beef. That way when the late games start and you realize you already owe your bookie two months rent you’ll at least have some delicious wet meat to devour (pause).

Hope you enjoy, and let me know if you try this out!

Beef Birria

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Ingredients:

• ~2lb Chuck Roast, trimmed

• 1 Whole Sweet Onion

• 5-7 Cloves of Garlic

• 2 Quarts Beef Broth

• 3-5 Limes, depending on your preference

• 1 Bunch Cilantro

• 2 Large Tomatoes, or Tomato Paste/Sauce

• ¼ c Vinegar (white, red wine, balsamic all work)

• SPICES

  • 3 Whole Ancho Chilis, or about 3 T powdered

  • 3 Whole Guajilo Chilis, or about 3 T powdered

  • 1 Whole Chili de Arbol, or about 1 T powdered

  • 1 T Dried Mexican Oregano

  • 1 t Cinnamon

  • 2 T Cumin (ground or seed)

  • 2-3 Bay Leaves

  • 1 T Smoked Hungarian Paprika

  • Ground Ginger (optional, but I like the added spice)

Method:

1. Preheat an oven to 250 degrees fahrenheit

2. If using whole chilis, seed and toast them on a dry pan, before soaking in boiling water and setting aside.

3. Get a Dutch oven or pot (dutch oven preferred) ripping hot over a high flame, and add a splash of oil. Sear your chuck on all sides for 5-6 minutes per side, until you form a dark crust. When all sides are charred remove from pan and set aside.

4. Dice your garlic, onion, and tomato (if using paste or sauce, hold off on adding for now). Add to the hot Dutch oven and cook over medium-low flame until slightly caramelized. We are going to cook these vegetables for hours until they fall apart, but we want to sautée them for deep flavor so they are not simply boiled.

5. Add all your spices to the onion/garlic mixture (if using tomato sauce/paste, add now) and stir to incorporate. Use your nose here to make adjustments as you see fit, I hold off on adding salt and pepper until later. Add back your chilis and the water they were soaking in (if using powder, add in now)

6. OPTIONAL* Turn off heat, and transfer contents of pot to a blender. Blend until smooth. Add back to pot.

   *chef’s note: if you are using powdered chilis it is my preference to skip this step. If you do, you will have a thinner broth with chunks from your garlic/onion/tomato, which I prefer. If you would like a smoother, thicker consommé go ahead and blend, I’ve had success both ways.

7. Back into your pot with your seasoned, sautéed veggies goes your chuck, just place it right on top. Add your beef broth and vinegar on top and stir to mix. If your liquid is not covering at least 75% of your meat, top with water or more broth if you have it. You really need the beef to be mostly submerged in the liquid for it to cook low and slow.

8. Give a couple fistfuls of cilantro a rough chop, and add to the pot. Stir and bring to a rolling boil* before covering and moving to an oven at 250 degrees. If using a pot on the stove, reduce flame to lowest possible setting and cover.

   *chef’s note: don’t skip this step, if you do not bring the pot to a boil before putting in the oven it will take forever to get back up to temperature and you will loose an hour or so of your braise.

9. Let cook for 6-8 hours, depending on the size of your chuck and your schedule. You don’t need to stir, poke, peak, or touch during this time so no need to miss a single snap of football.

10. When the time has come, remove the pot from the oven and the beef from the pot. Waft some of that delicious flavor into your nose. Your beef should be pull-apart tender, and if its not back into the oven it should go.

11. At this point I like to use two forks to shred the beef a little, but leaving large chunks and strands. If you do not want large ribbons of beef you can always use a knife to give it a rough chop as well, for smaller pieces.

12. Meanwhile, roll and juice 3-4 limes into the broth pot. Add a couple more handfuls of fresh chopped cilantro as well. Taste your broth for seasoning and adjust as you see fit.

13. Either put the shredded beef back into the pot, or into a separate pot and cover with consommé. Congrats, you did it, you have a pot filed with delicious tender beef covered in broth, and a separate pot just filled with the sweet nectar of the gods that is consommé. You can just eat this with a fork or over rice, or you can use it as your the protein in your favorite Mexican dish. Perhaps, tacos:

Preparing & Serving a Taco:

1. Get a nonstick skillet hot over a medium-high flame. Take a tortilla and dip it in your consommé pot, then drop onto your hot pan. Let the flavor toast and infuse into your tortilla.

2. Flip your tortilla, and add cheese if you’d like. I like to opt for a soft white cheese like mozzarella or queso panela here. Let the other side toast and your cheese start to melt.

3. Take a couple of pinches of your beef and drop them into your tortilla. If everything is already hot, you don’t need to keep it on the pan much longer, you can remove it once the cheese is melty.

4. Ladle a cup of consommé out of your pot to eat with your taco. Top your taco with whatever you’d like or nothing at all, I generally opt for some avocado, pickled onion, cojita cheese, and another sprinkle of cilantro. Now you’re ready to munch.

5. Firmly grip your taco and plunge it into your consommé cup, before promptly sticking it in your mouth for a bite. Repeat this until you are out of taco, and then drink the broth. This is the best day of your life.