Birria

El Cielo Recipe: Birria is a traditional Mexican stew from the state of Jalisco. It is made from slow-cooked fall-apart juicy and tender goat, lamb, or beef. Marinated in a rich and flavorful red chile broth. 

It’s usually enjoyed as a savoury stew served with toppings like cilantro, onions, and freshly squeezed lime juice. 

SERVES: 6

COOKING TIME: 5hrs

INGREDIENTS:

Included in El Cielo's Birria Cooking Kit: Birria Cooking Kit

• All dry chillies rinsed, destemmed, and deseeded
• 12 El Cielo Dried Guajillo Chillis ( 2 bags)
• 5 El Cielo - Ancho Chile Dried  (2 bags)
• 5 El Cielo - Arbol Chile Dried (2 bags)
• 1 tsp El Cielo - Mexican Oregano Dried
• 2 Pkgs El Cielo Tortillas - Home Style White Corn Tortillas
• A few Drops of El Cielo - Natural Green Habanero Sauce

Fresh Ingredients:

• 1.5 kg of beef chuck roast, cut into large 10-cm chunks
• 2 large fresh Roma tomatoes
• ½ medium white onion
• 2 cups of beef broth
• 1 10-cm Cinnamon stick 
• 5 garlic cloves
• 3 Bay leaves
• ½ tsp whole black pepper corns

Pantry Ingredients:

• ½ tbsp salt
• ½ tbsp black gound pepper
• 1 ½ tbsp of olive oil 
• ¼ cup distilled white vinegar 
• 1 tsp ground cumin 
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• Water, as needed

Cooking Instructions 

1. Season and sear: Season your meat on both sides with salt and pepper.
2. Set a pot over medium-high heat with olive oil, add the meat, and sear on all sides until browned.
3. You might need to work in two batches depending on how big your pot is. Once all meat is seared, set aside.
4. Soak the chiles: In a medium pot, add all of the dried chiles, tomatoes, onion, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and peppercorns, covering everything completely with water. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Blend: Once the chiles are softened transfer everything to a blender and add 1 cup of chile-soaked water. Add in the broth, vinegar, and the remaining spices. Blend until smooth, about 5 minutes.
6. Cook: Strain the blended sauce into the pot with the seared meat and gently stir, and bring to a boil. Bring the heat to low, cover, and cook for 3-3 ½ hours, or until the  meat is fall-apart tender.
7. Shred: Take the meat out to shred, and add shredded meat back to consomé.

Finally, take the meat out to shred it, then add the shredded meat back into the consomé.

Birria is traditionally somewhere between a medium to hot spice level, which is how I would classify this recipe.

• For a mild spice, don’t use any arbol chiles.
• For a medium spice, I recommend using 3 arbol chiles.
• For a hot spice level, use anywhere from 7 to 10 arbol chiles.

El Cielo's Birria Cooking Ingredients: Birria Cooking Kit

• 2 x  El Cielo Dried Guajillo Chillis 
• 2 x  El Cielo - Ancho Chile Dried  
• 2 x El Cielo - Arbol Chile Dried 
• 1 x El Cielo - Mexican Oregano Dried
• 2 x El Cielo Tortillas - Home Style White Corn
• 1 x El Cielo - Natural Green Habanero Sauce

Step by step - Birria Recipe - Video Instructions 

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