Birria de Res
Chile-braised beef, consommé for dipping and crisped corn tortillas.
Maui's an app that plans a whole week of dinners like this one. See how it works ↓
The fat skimmed off the consommé is non-negotiable - that's what makes the tortilla orange-crisp instead of just warm. Save any leftover fat in a jar for the next time you crave quesabirria.
Ingredients
Everything below makes 6 servings.
- 3 lbbeef shank (or chuck)cut into 3-inch chunks if shank
- 6dried guajillo chilesstems and seeds removed
- 2dried ancho chilesstems and seeds removed
- 2dried chiles de arbolstems removed
- 3 mediumRoma tomatoeshalved
- 1 mediumwhite onionquartered, plus extra finely diced for garnish
- 8garlic clovessmashed
- 1 inchfresh gingersliced
- 1cinnamon stick
- 3whole cloves
- 1 tspground cumin
- 1 tbspdried oregano (Mexican preferred)
- 2bay leaves
- 2 tbspapple cider vinegar
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 2½ tspkosher salt
- 18corn tortillas
- ½ cupfresh cilantrochopped
- 3limecut into wedges
In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.
Nutrition
Per serving, as written.
- 520calories
- 40gprotein
- 28gcarbs
- 28gfat
Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.
Instructions
Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.
- Cut beef into 3-inch chunks if needed.
- Stem and seed guajillo and ancho; stem the arbol.
- Halve tomatoes. Quarter onion (reserve extra for diced garnish). Smash garlic. Slice ginger.
- Chop cilantro; wedge limes.
Sear beef
Heat olive oil in dutch oven over medium-high. Season beef with salt. Sear in batches 3 min per side until deeply browned. Remove.
12 min · hands onToast chiles
In dry skillet, toast guajillo and ancho and arbol over medium 30-60 sec per side. Transfer to bowl, cover with 2 cups hot water, soak 15 min.
18 min · hands offChar tomato and aromatics
In same dry skillet, char tomatoes (cut side down), quartered onion, garlic, and ginger 5 min total.
5 min · hands onBlend sauce
Blend soaked chiles and 1.5 cups soaking water and charred tomato/onion/garlic/ginger and cumin and oregano and cinnamon and cloves and vinegar and salt until very smooth. Strain through fine-mesh sieve.
5 min · hands onBraise
Return beef to dutch oven. Pour strained sauce over, add bay leaves and 4 cups water. Bring to simmer, cover, braise on low 2.5-3 hr until beef is fall-apart tender.
180 min · hands offShred
Transfer beef to cutting board. Shred with two forks. Skim some of the orange-red fat from the consommé into a small bowl - this is the magic for the tortillas.
5 min · hands onQuesabirria
Dip tortillas in the skimmed birria fat, lay on a hot griddle. Top one side with shredded birria and diced onion. Fold, crisp 1-2 min per side until edges shatter. Serve with consommé on the side for dipping.
12 min · hands onMake it yours
Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.
Chuck cooks identically; slightly less collagen-rich consommé.
Lamb is the original birria protein; same timing.
Serve over rice; skip the tortilla griddle step. Adds about 5 minutes.
What keeps
Birria is iconic day-2 food - broth deepens, fat solidifies on top (skim and save for griddling next batch of tacos). Keeps 4 days, freezes 2 months.
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