Grandma's Beef Birria Recipe
Grandma's Beef Birria Recipe
This recipe brings back childhood memories. It was passed on from my grandmother, to my mother, then to me. On weekends, I would make it for my kids. They love it. This is a great dish to cook along with enjoying family time.
cook and prep time: 4 hours
Ingredients:
5 lbs. bone in beef shanks or beef chuck roll (cut into 1 lb. pieces)
6 ea. guajillo dry chiles (toasted or fried) but not burnt” seeded and de-veined
3 ea. bay leaves
6 ea. peeled fresh garlic cloves
1 ea. large yellow onion peeled and halved
1 tsp. dry thyme
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground cumin
6 ea. pepper corns
6 ea. whole cloves
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. toasted sesame seeds
1 pinch salt & black pepper to taste
1 gallon water
Sides or Toppings:
Corn or flour tortillas
Chopped onion
Chopped cilantro
Lemon or lime wedges
Homemade Spicy red salsa
Method:
1. Place all spices including onion in blender with 2 cups of water and blend on high for 2 minutes. With a colander, strain all liquid. Discard all non-liquid. Set the marinade aside.
2. Marinate beef with blended liquid paste of all ingredients and put into a stock pot or crock pot. Add remaining of water. Cover with lid and cook on low heat for 3.5 hours or until meat is tender and able to flake off with fork.
3. Let it cool down either shred the meat or roughly chop. Serve on a bowl with some of the broth and top with desired condiments. Serve with warm tortillas.
If you desire to make tacos, heat up tortillas and top them with some beef birria, toppings and spicy salsa.