L ifestyle /C ulture
Birria Tacos, Muy Bueno
F OO D
KERI WHITE | JE FOOD COLUMNIST
MY HUSBAND HAS taken
up his place at the stove on
Sunday. This time of year, he
makes delicious stews and
soups and tends toward the
hearty, manly, meaty end of the
culinary spectrum.

Last week, he dazzled us
all with his version of birria
tacos. These tacos have become
trendy of late —they are a little
different from the traditional
taco, in which soft tacos (or
hard shells) are stuffed with
meat or chicken or fish or
veggies or cheese, or a combo
of these fillings, and dressed
with flavorful salsas.

Birria tacos involve a
flavorful braise, in our case,
short ribs, but rather than
offer a DIY set-up at the
table, these are served freshly
filled and fried in the “birria”
drippings to a delicious crisp.

Traditionalists fill them with
meat, cheese, pickled onions
and cilantro, but kosher diners
would skip the cheese.

If you have extra pickled
onions, save them; they are
glorious tossed over green
salads, stirred into tuna or
chicken salad, strewn over
roast veggies or slathered on a
sandwich. BIRRIA TACOS
Serves 4 generously
For the meat:
3 dried guajillo peppers,
stems and seeds removed
½ cup boiling water
1 can chipotles in adobo
¼ cup fresh lime juice
½ cup tomato puree
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
2 jalapeños, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt
2 pounds boneless short
ribs (or 3 pounds if using
bone-in) JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
1 tablespoon vegetable or
canola oil
2 cups beef or vegetable
broth 1 cup (approximately) water
In a large, dry ovenproof
skillet, toast the guajillo
peppers over medium heat for
a few minutes; they will become
fragrant quickly. Turn them with
tongs to hit all sides. Place them
in a bowl with boiling water and
let them sit for a few minutes.

In a blender, place the
guajillo mixture, chipotles
in adobo, lime juice, tomato
puree, garlic, onion, jalapeños,
salt and cumin. Puree until
smooth. Set aside.

Heat your oven to 300
degrees F.

Heat the oil on the stove in a
skillet over medium-high.

Salt the short ribs, and sear
them on all sides. Scrape any
bits from the bottom of the
pan, and add the sauce, then
the broth and enough water
to just cover as needed. Cover
and place them in the oven
for 3 hours. Check occasionally
to ensure that there is enough
liquid to braise the ribs.

While the meat braises,
pickle the onions. When
the meat is done, remove it
from the oven, and pull the
meat apart with forks. Do not
discard the fat layer off the top
of the pan; this will be used for
the tacos!
Birria tacos
Photos by Keri White
flavorful, so save it and use in medium heat. Using tongs,
salads or marinades.

place a tortilla flat in the skillet,
then flip it over to lightly coat
Assembly: it. Place a bit of meat inside
Fresh corn tortillas
the taco, then some pickled
onion and fresh cilantro. Fold
Chopped fresh cilantro
the taco and heat, turning so
Skim a few tablespoons that both sides crisp up evenly.

of the fat off the meat and Repeat this procedure for suffi-
place it in a clean skillet over cient portions, and enjoy.

Note: These are best made
fresh, so if you do not intend
to eat all of the birria, I recom-
mend using the leftover for a
fresh batch tomorrow. And, if
you don’t wish to recreate the
birria tacos, you can certainly
make enchiladas,
other Mexican dishes or even use the
meat for hearty sloppy joes. l
PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR UPCOMING
VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSES
7:30pm on Tues 1/11 and Thursday 1/20
4:00pm on Sunday 1/30
For the onions:
1 large onion, chopped
¼ cup white vinegar
Juice of 1 lime
½ teaspoon salt
Water Place the onions in a sealable
container with the remaining
ingredients. Add cool water
to cover. Shake the mixture,
and let it sit at room tempera-
ture until ready to serve. Note:
The vinegar brine is extremely
JEWISH EXPONENT
JANUARY 27, 2022
17