Birria de Res (Beef Birria)

Serving: 6 people

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg ’Picanha’ beef cut into medium sized chunks (~7 cm³)
• Salt & pepper

Marinade:

• 2 chilli Ancho
• 1 chilli Guajillo
• 1 Tomato
• ½ White Onion
• 2 cloves garlic peeled
• ½ tsp Cumin
• ¼ tsp whole black pepper
• ½ tsp Oregano
• ¼ tsp Marjoram (or Thyme)
• ½ Cinnamon stick
• ¼ cup White wine vinegar
• 2 tsp salt

Other

• 4 cups water
  

Method

1. Preheat the oven: to 170°C temperature
   
   
2. Prep the chillies: cut the stalk off the chillies and remove the seeds inside. Heat up a 'comal' (or griddle pan / frying pan) on medium heat. Once heated, lower the heat and add the chillies – press them down with the back of a spatula to toast them lightly on each side (~20 seconds each side). Take chillies immediately off the heat and submerge them in a pot of hot water for ~20 minutes
   
   
3. Prep the meat: rub the beef well on all sides with salt and pepper. Cut the meat into ~7cm sized chunks. 
   
   
4. Make the marinade: place all the marinade ingredients in the blender, blend to a pulse. Pour the marinade over over the meat, cover and refrigerate for four hours or overnight.
   
   
5. Cook: Place the meat with its marinade in a casserole pot ('Dutch oven')*. Add the water. Cover the pot with the lid and place in the pre-heated oven and cook for 3 to 4 hours. Every 30 minutes or so check all the meat pieces are well covered by the broth, turning them and spooning the liquid over. If it looks too dry, add more water.
   
   
6. Check the meat for fork tenderness: After three hours check the meat readiness - it should fall apart when you prod it with a fork. If it isn't ready, cover it again and return to cook for another 15 minutes or so, checking regularly
   
   
7. Serve: lightly shred chunks of the meat for serving (leave remaining chunks whole) and spoon some of the broth over the meat. Serve with the chilli broth on the side (as a consomme or for dipping your tacos), warm tortillas, pickled habaneros and salsa
   
   

*This can also be cooked in a pressure cooker - bring the mixture to a boil first on a high heat (~10 minutes) and then once it's boiling (a spitting noise is released) - reduce the heat to a low-medium setting and cook for a further 1 hour and 15-30 minutes, until fork-tender. Check it in between every 45 minutes to ensure the mix has enough liquid - not drying out.