Birria is a traditional Mexican meat braise from Jalisco. By itself this can be a meal, served with tortillas and accompaniments like cabbage, lime, peppers, etc. You can use this with pretty much any protein, but I prefer hardier ones when I braise for a long period of time. I used this process to make the base of my Birria Stew, which I in turn finished with potatoes, corn, peppers, and cabbage for the soup itself.
The key part of this preparation is to marinate your meat overnight at least. Normally you use a combination of herbs, spices, garlic, dried peppers, and vinegar. For this particular version, I didn't marinate the meat with vinegar, but I added oranges to the braise to get the acid and sugar at that step. After a slow long braise your birria is technically ready.
I prefer to remove the bones from soups. In a lot of cultures you are served the whole pieces with bones and all, but I find it a little messy. There's nothing wrong with doing so, I just prefer not to pull bones out of soups.
Another key part to this preparation is to toast and de-seed your chilies prior to making your marinade. By toasting the chilies you bring their flavor out and make them more complex. When seeds are in dried chilies they can frequently become inedible and hard, which is why you remove the seeds. One thing to mention is to be careful when toasting them, the aroma can get strong when they go a little long.
Enjoy.
Ingredients
New Mexico Chilies 6 ea
Mulato Chilies 6 ea
Chipotle Chilies* 2 ea
Salt 1 T
Avenue Spice 1 T
Coriander, toasted and ground 1 T
Cumin, toasted and ground 2 tsp
Lamb Chops 4 lbs
Beef Ribs 4 lbs
Garlic 4 cloves
Onion, quartered 3 ea
Tomatoes, canned, diced 1 ea (12 oz)
Water 1 cup + as needed
Oil 2 T + 2T
Honey 1 T
Cinnamon 2 sticks
Orange, segmented 1 ea
Bay Leaves 3 ea
Thyme 3 sprigs
Oregano 2 sprigs
*If you want to increase the heat, add more chipotles or some chili de arbols here as well.
Method of Procedure
Preheat your oven to 350 and place your chilies on a sheet tray. Toast for 5 minutes and remove from heat.
Seed your chilies and discard the seeds and stems.
Heat your water so its hot and rehydrate your chilies. Reserve your water.
Puree your chilies with salt, 2 cloves of garlic, coriander, cumin, honey, oil, and Avenue Spice. Add the water from the peppers as needed to create a paste.
Liberally cover your meat with the paste and place in the refrigerator overnight.
Heat your braising pan and place 1-2 T of oil into the pan.
Add your quartered onions and 2 cloves of garlic and char to get color.
Place your marinated meat into the pan and saute to char the outsides a bit.
Add remaining ingredients and add water to almost cover.
Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for at leat 5 hours until the meat is falling off the bone.
Let cool in the broth and strain, reserving the broth.
Once cool to the touch, pull the meat from the bones.
NOTE: At this point you can use the meat for tacos or any other purpose, serve as a stew itself with proper garnishes, or turn into a finished soup, like my Birria Stew.
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