Birria Quesa-Tacos Recipe by Master Chef Antonio Cruz

July 05, 2024

Birria Quesa-Tacos with a Master Chef touch

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 savory stew served with toppings like cilantro, onions, and freshly squeezed lime juice.

Seves: 2

Cooking time: 3 hours

Get all the necessary ingredients to cook this recipe here - El Cielo Birria Cooking Kit - by Chef Antonio Cruz

El Cielo Ingredientes:

2 El Cielo Dried Guajillo Chillis
1 El Cielo - Ancho Chile Dried
2 El Cielo - Arbol Chile Dried
1 El Cielo - Pasilla Chile Dried
2 El Cielo - Morita Chile Dried
10gr La Anita - Achiote Paste Condiment
1 tbsp El Cielo - Mexican Oregano Dried
1 x El Cielo Tortillas - Home Style White Corn (recommended order separately)
1 x El Cielo - Natural Green Habanero Sauce ((recommended order separately)

Fresh Ingredients:

500gr Short rib bone in
1/2 L Beef stock
1/2 Brown onion (quartered)
1/2 White onion (finely chopped)
1/2 bunch of coriander
2 limes
Tomato
3 Garlic cloves

Pantry Ingredients

2 cloves
3-4 Bay leaves
10-15 Peppercorns
1 Cinnamon stick
2 tsp ground cumin
250g low moisture mozzarella (preferably Oaxaca cheese) shredded

Cooking Instructions

Preheat oven to 180C
De-seed all the chiles and put in a pot with boiling water together with the tomato, set aside to rehydrate for 15 minutes
Salt and sear the beef till VERY golden.
Drain the chiles and add to a blender with the tomato, quartered brown onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, 1.5 cups of the cooking liquid from the chiles and blitz till a paste forms.
Add the paste to the beef, add the beef stock and some salt.
Add your aromats (bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon stick, and half of coriander bunch).
Bring to a simmer, cover with the lid and cook in the oven for 2-3 hours.
Take the beef out of the pot, and skim as much fat as you can from the pot (a trick is to place everything into a bowl and let it chill overnight then you can scrape the solidified fat from the top)
Add 1/2 litre of water back to the pot, stir and bring to a slow simmer.
Shred the beef and place in a bowl ready for assembling the quesa-tacos.
In a cast iron skillet or a pan, place the tortilla after being dipped in the cooking fat.
Place a good amount of cheese and a lot of the delicious shredded beef on top.
Wait till the cheese melts and close the taco.
Fry till is nice and crispy.

To serve

In a small jug place some of the consome (soup).
Open the tacos and add some finely chopped white onion, finely chopped coriander and close.
Add the toppings to the consome.
Dunk away and enjoy the most delicious birria tacos you'll ever have!