Alfredo Garcia

Birria - Quesa Tacos

. Grab your dried Chile Guajillo, Puya & Ancho, remove the stems, rip them open and shake out all the seeds.

beef short rib, heavily salted and peppered

 To the short ribs and chuck roast, heavily season with salt and pepper. Cut the chuck roast into smaller pieces to speed up the cooking process.

 Get your Instant Pot, set it to the sear function, in batches, brown the beef all over, about 4-6 minutes per side.

 Add all the beef back into the instant pot, along with the dried chiles, garlic, bay leaves, onion, ginger and water.

 Cover with the lid and set to high pressure for 1 hour. Once the timer goes off, let sit, covered, for 30 minutes before releasing the Instant Pot pressure and opening up the lid.

 Once open, transfer all solid veggies such as the onion, chiles, garlic to your blender. Take out the bay leaves and ginger and discard.

 To the blender with the Chile mixture, add the remaining spices, whole pepper, cumin, Mexican oregano and whole cloves, white vinegar and the tomatoes, along with 2 cups of the cooking liquid. Blend until smooth and fully combined.

 To the beef, remove the bones from the short ribs and shred the rest of the beef, at this point it should be fall apart tender that just moving the meat around with your tongs will get the job done.

 Pour the blended Chile mixture to the remaining broth, this is becoming our consome for the Birria. You can either leave the beef in its own separate bowl & simply add about 1/2 cup of the console to mix into the beef. Or Mix all the beef back into the consome.

 To make Quesa Birria Tacos, get a large skillet/griddle heating up on medium-ish heat.

 Dip corn tortillas into the fatty top part of the consome, then place them on the griddle. Cook for 30-45 seconds per side, then on the second side, sprinkle with cheese, then Birria over the cheese, cilantro & onion, then more cheese, close your taco, and cook for another minute per side, or until the tortilla is getting nice and crispy on the outside.

 To serve your Quesa Birria tacos, get a bowl of consome, season it with salsa, cilantro, onion, lime juice. Add more salsa, cilantro, onion, lime to your taco & dip it into the consome.

To make Birria on your stove top instead of an instant pot. Get a large dutch oven or any big heavy pot. Sear the beef on medium high heat in oil, until browned all over, about 3-4 minutes per side. 

Once all the beef is seared, add it all back to the pot, along with all of the dried chiles, garlic, onion, bay leaves, ginger & water. Let come to a boil, then reduce to a medium low heat and let cook, partially covered, for 2-3 hours, or until the beef is fall apart tender. 