“2 weeks of Mexican food? Cassem, what’re you thinkin’??” you ask, well, I don’t have a great reason for it. I love Mexican food, I heard about the birria taco recently and… I decided to make it!
First off, let’s just get a few things out of the way. Does this recipe take a long time to make? Yes. Yes it does. Is it worth that time investment? Without a doubt in my mind. I would go as far as saying that this is the best way I’ve ever had tacos. Don’t get me wrong, I go home from time to time and make a quick batch of taco meat when I don’t feel like cooking, and I’ll still do that, but when I’m feeling like bein’ a lil fancy? I’m bustin out this recipe.
First off, the use of real dried chilies is absolutely imperative here. I had never cooked with them before making this, and I gotta say, I’m a changed man. It’s super easy to prepare them and it adds such a delicious smokey, fruity flavor to the overall dish that can’t be forgotten. Plus this recipe calls for cinnamon sticks, which after cooking all day I didn’t understand, but the next day? I got it. I threw in 3 cinnamon sticks while the beef cooked and man oh man the next day it added such an amazing element to these tacos. To be completely transparent here, I don’t think I’m ever going to make tacos again without making a tiny bit of this sauce. Not to mention the Oaxaca cheese! My brother didn’t know what that really was, and neither did I, so he looked it up. It’s essentially a cross between part skim and whole fat mozzarella cheese, and it sure melts like it. I think if you can’t find this cheese you could use mozzarella sticks in place and it would work fine.
All in all, this recipe was incredible, and I can’t wait to make it again sometime soon. To see how I made this check out the video below, or if you’d like written directions keep scrolling!
Ingredients for the chicken:
1 Tbsp Salt
3 Guajillo Chilies deseeded and torn into pieces
3 Ancho Chilies deseeded and torn into pieces
2 Chilies de Arbol deseeded and torn into pieces
2 tsp Cumin Seed
2 ¼ cups of water, divided
1 head of garlic, cloves prepared
1 tsp oregano
¼ tsp Cloves
½ small White Onion, cut in half
28 oz can of whole, peeled tomatoes
3 Sticks of Cinnamon
1 yellow onion, quartered
5 Bay Leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Corn Tortillas
Oaxaca Cheese
1 Tbsp Canola Oil
Instructions:
1) Cut Chuck Roast into 2 inch pieces and add 1 tbsp salt. Coat meat thoroughly and let sit out at room temperature for 30 – 40 minutes in a nonstick, oven safe high rimmed dish
2) Add chilies and Cumin Seeds to dry pan and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until fragrant. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a simmer, remove from heat, cover pan with a lid and steep chilies and Cumin for 10 -20 minutes
3) Transfer chilies and liquid, head of garlic, ½ small white onion, oregano, cloves and blend until smooth. Add ¼ cup of water and blend again
4) Add tomatoes and chili sauce to beef, using gloved hands, mix tomatoes, sauce and meat. Add 3 sticks of cinnamon, quartered yellow onion, and bay leaves. Place dish in oven and bake at 350° for 2 hours, flipping half way through and adding more water if needed. Once done, remove from pan and cut beef into pieces or shred. Remove bay leaves and cinnamon sticks from dish, and add all remaining sauce and vegetables to a blender and blend until smooth (this is the birria sauce)
5) Pour 1 Tbsp canola oil into pan and heat until lightly smoking. Fry 3 corn tortillas in oil. Once fried, dip tortillas in Birria Sauce and fry again. While tortillas are cooking the second time, add pieces of beef and Oaxaca Cheese and fold tortilla to make a taco. Pour warm birria sauce into cup and serve with tacos
That’s it for me this week, check us out on Facebook and let us know if you made this and how you made it your own! Be sure to check us out on Youtube and follow us on Instagram as well to keep up on all of our delicious Halal recipes. Thank you from all of us Midamar!
