Some say that I am making these famous tacos a little late. I say, food doesn't go out of style. My daughter has been asking me for months about making these tacos. At first, I had no idea what she was talking about. I had to check out this craze that everyone was talking about. Yes, they do look absolutely delicious. How in the world do you make these, I kept asking myself. I mean, looking at is I could just about pinpoint some ingredients but I needed to make sure I was on point.
I did some detailed research. I watched many YouTube videos, read recipes over and over again, and did a little research on these tacos. Birria is actually a stew that is traditionally made from goat meat and is a celebratory dish. Well, since it is March is my birthday month and I celebrate all month long, why not make these Birria tacos in March. I’ve seen some people use an Instapot, definitely seen people braising it off in the oven, and a select few use a crockpot. I’m adding to the crockpot train because well…I love 
my crockpot. I can put everything in there and move on about my day. Yes, I had to do some steps before getting it in the crockpot but you have to do that with every other cooking vessel as well. However, when you cook meat low and slow, the flavors get to sit, take its time, ease into the meat and spread throughout the meat.
I have a piece of paper where I wrote down the ingredients that I wanted to use. Now, that paper look like a teacher was having a bad day of grading papers. I have steps and ingredients crossed off, measurement changes, added stuff. It was a little crazy going around in my kitchen. I'm the person who normally has everything out on the counter ready to go. However, a few times I noticed myself reaching in the cabinet to grab spices. When you have ancestors whispering in your ear, you listen. One of those whisper was “don’t make our fellow brothers & sisters look bad, put your heart into this dish like you do any other.” That’s exactly what I did! I will be making this dish another time, using a different method but for the time being, here is what I used and did with this delicious dish. I hope you do get to try this out for yourself.
Birria Tacos
Equipment
- Crockpot
- Griddle
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Beef Can use beef shank, beef chuck, etc.
- 8 Arbol Chilis
- 2 Ancho Chilis
- 1 can Chipotle Pepper in Adobo Sauce
- 1 small Yellow Onion chopped
- 2 tbsp Garlic Paste can use fresh garlic
- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 32 oz Beef Broth
- 1 tsp Granulated Garlic or to taste
- 1 tsp Granulated Onion or to taste
- 1 tsp Thyme or to taste
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin or to taste
- 1 tsp Chipotle Seasoning or to taste
- 2 Dried Bay Leaves
- 2 Cinnamon Sticks
- 2 tbsp Brown Sugar Optional to cut spice
- 1 package Corn Tortillas
Instructions
- Remove stems and seeds from peppers. Rinse to remove dirt and debris.
- Add chilis to small pot of water and bring to a boil. Let steep for 20-30 minutes or until peppers are softened.
- While chilis steep, brown beef on all sides.
- Dice onions (and garlic if using fresh)
- Remove chilis from pot and discard liquid.
- Add chilis, oregano, chipotle seasoning, chipotle peppers, thyme, cumin and 1 cup of water to a blender. Blend until pureed well.
- Add browned beef to crockpot. Add granulated onion, granualted garlic, salt & pepper.
- Add diced onion, pureed chilis, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks. Pour in beef broth.
- Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4-6 hours. Meat should pull apart easily.
- Skim off as much fat as possible, shred meat, and strain liquid. Save broth for dipping.
- Serve on hot tortillas and dip into consomme. Enjoy!
