🇲🇽 Mexico · Jalisco (Tijuana for the beef version)
BirriaMexican spiced meat stew
A Mexican dish of meat, traditionally goat and now often beef, marinated in an adobo of vinegar, dried chiles, garlic and spices, then slow-cooked and served with its rich chile-red consomé, as a bowl of meat in broth or with the broth on the side for dipping.
Origin and history
Birria is a dish of Jalisco, usually linked to the town of Cocula, where it was made with goat, a meat the Spanish introduced. A Tijuana taco vendor swapped goat for cheaper beef in the 1950s, adding water to make a stew-like dish, and from there the beef version and its consomé spread.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 4 h
- Hands-on
- 40 min
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg3.3 lb goat leg or shoulder, or beef shank, short rib or brisket, bone-in, in large chunks
- 4 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 3 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 2 pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 1 morita or chipotle chile, optional, for heat
- 125 ml1/2 cup white vinegar
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/2 white onion, plus 1/2 more for the pot
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 4 whole allspice berries
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
- 1 tbsp coarse salt, plus more to taste
- 2.5 l2.5 quarts water
- 1 tbsp oil or lard, for frying the adobo
- chopped white onion, cilantro, limes and corn tortillas, to serve
Method
-
1. Toast the chiles in a dry pan for 20 to 30 seconds per side until fragrant, without burning them, then soak in hot water for 15 minutes until soft.
-
2. Blend the chiles with the vinegar, garlic, 1/2 onion, cumin, allspice, 1 bay leaf, oregano, the coarse salt and a little of the soaking water until you have a thick smooth paste; sieve it if you want it very fine.
-
3. Coat the meat all over with about two-thirds of the paste, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. Keep the rest of the paste in the fridge.
-
4. Put the meat in a large pot with the remaining 1/2 onion, the remaining bay leaves and the water. Bring to a boil, skim, cover and simmer very gently for 3 hours (about 45 minutes in a pressure cooker, or overnight in a slow cooker) until the meat falls off the bone.
-
5. Lift out the meat, shred it and discard the bones and fat. Strain the cooking liquid.
-
6. Heat the oil in a small pan and fry the reserved paste for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, then whisk it into the strained liquid and simmer 15 minutes. This is the consomé; skim off excess fat and add salt.
-
7. Return the shredded meat to the consomé for 5 to 10 minutes.
-
8. Serve in bowls with the onion, cilantro and lime on the table and warm tortillas, or serve the meat on the side with the consomé in cups for dipping and sipping.
Notes
- Birria comes from Jalisco and is traditionally made with goat (birria de chivo). Beef (birria de res) is a later form that took off in Tijuana; the adobo and the consomé are what define it, not the animal. Goat has a stronger flavour, which the heavy spicing was partly meant to tame.
- In Jalisco the meat was cooked in underground pits; the pot method here follows the home version.
- Birria tacos and quesabirria are a way of using the same meat and consomé; this page covers the soup form.
- Make ahead: the consomé and meat keep 3 days in the fridge and reheat well. Substitute any mild dried red chile if one of them is hard to find; the colour and heat will shift.
Adapted from Meteored México, Qué lleva una buena birria (receta jalisciense) and CNBC, birria on restaurant menus across the country.
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.