RECETA
Birria Tacos
(4 people)
Ingredients:
BEEF BIRRIA:
9 ripe tomatoes
5 ancho chiles
8 guajillo chiles
2 chipotle chiles in marinade
1 onion
7 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon Jamaican pepper
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano (or regular)
Half a cinnamon stick (pref. Ceylon)
1 tablespoon of tomato concentrate
600 ml water
35 ml white vinegar
1.5 kg of oxtail
1kg of veal rib (churrasco)
1 l of veal stock
BIRRIA TACOS:
Beef Birria
Birria consommé
Oaxaca cheese
Corn tortillas
Sunflower oil
1 sweet onion
Fresh cilantro
3 limes
Method:
BEEF BIRRIA:
Remove the stems from the tomatoes and cut them in half. Cut the onion into large chunks.
Remove the stems from the guajillo and ancho chiles and then remove the seeds.
Peel the garlic cloves.
In a large saucepan add the black pepper, Jamaican pepper, cinnamon stick and cumin seeds. Toast over medium heat until fragrant.
Add the tomatoes, onion and garlic cloves. Add the oregano. Sauté for 5 minutes.
Add the tomato paste, ancho chiles, guajillo chiles and chipotle chiles. Sauté for 4 more minutes.
Add the water and white vinegar. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.
Transfer all the solids to a food processor, along with 1 ladle of the cooking water. Blend 2 minutes, until fine and smooth. Set aside.
Cut the churrasco into medium pieces. Place a saucepan over high heat until very hot, add sunflower oil and sear the meat in batches, until deep golden brown on all sides.
Add the veal stock. Skim off the fat from the bottom. Add the chili and tomato sauce (adobo), then add water until it reaches the edge of the pan. Add a pinch of salt. Mix everything well and cook for 2 and a half hours, stirring from time to time so it doesn't seize.
At 2 and a half hours remove the veal ribs, remove the bones and cartilage and then chop it finely. Set aside.
One hour later (3 and a half hours of cooking) take out the oxtail, separate it from the bone and cartilage and chop it finely. Set aside.
Add salt to the consommé to taste, and a little sugar to correct the acidity if necessary.
Sieve the consommé through a sieve, then set aside in the refrigerator for a minimum of two hours.
Remove from the refrigerator and remove the layer of fat that will have formed on the surface. Reserve the fat for later use.
BIRRIA TACOS:
Shred the oaxaca cheese and set aside. Chop half a sweet onion and a handful of cilantro leaves.
Heat some of the consommé in a saucepan.
In a frying pan add a tablespoon of the consommé fat together with a little sunflower oil. Mix them together and heat over medium heat.
Put two pancakes on the fat. Varnish them with a little consommé and add meat to one of the halves of each tortilla. Put oaxaca cheese on top of the meat. With a spatula fold the tortillas and set aside, then repeat with more tortillas, adding fat and oil each time.
Two minutes after folding the tortillas, turn them over and fry them on the other side for two more minutes. Once ready, transfer them to a plate.
On the same plate place a bowl of hot consommé, and finish with some of the chopped sweet onion, chopped cilantro leaves and the juice of half a lime. Spread on the taco and eat as soon as possible.