Choco Pan de Coco
Tejal Rao, Bryan Ford
721 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
721
2 hours, plus fermentation
Birria de Res (Beef Birria)
- Total Time
- 2¾ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 10 servings
- 2poblano chiles
- 5guajillo chiles, seeded, stemmed and halved lengthwise
- 5pounds bone-in beef shoulder, cut into large pieces, or goat or lamb stew cuts on the bone
- 1tablespoon fine sea salt
- ¼cup neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed
- 1medium white onion, finely chopped
- 1(28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- ¼cup plus 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
- 6garlic cloves, peeled
- 2tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
- 2teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
- 2teaspoons toasted white sesame seeds
- ½teaspoon ground cumin
- 4cloves
- Fresh black pepper
- 1cinnamon stick
- 2fresh or dried bay leaves
- ½cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2limes, quartered
- Corn tortillas, warmed
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
424 calories; 20 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 48 grams protein; 838 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Step 2
Prepare the chiles: Use tongs to place the poblano chiles directly over the open flame of a gas burner set to high. Cook the poblanos until totally charred all over, turning as needed, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap so the poblanos can steam. After 10 minutes, use your fingers to pull the blackened skins away from the poblanos, then remove the stems and seeds. Roughly chop the poblanos and set aside.
- Step 3
While the poblano chiles steam, place a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches to cook the guajillo chiles evenly in one layer, flatten the chile halves on the hot skillet and toast them for about 15 seconds, turning once. Put the chiles in a bowl and add 2 cups hot water to help soften them. Set aside.
- Step 4
Prepare the meat: Season the meat all over with the salt. Heat the oil in a large, oven-proof pot over medium-high. Working in batches, sear the meat on all sides until well browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side, transferring the browned meat to a large bowl as you work.
- Step 5
After you’ve seared all the meat, add the onion to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Return all the meat to the pot.
- Step 6
Meanwhile, add the tomatoes, vinegar, garlic, ginger, oregano, sesame seeds, cumin, cloves and a few grinds of black pepper to a blender, along with the chopped poblanos, toasted guajillos and the chile soaking liquid. Purée until smooth, scraping down the edges of the blender as needed.
- Step 7
Pour the blended mixture into the pot with the meat. Add the cinnamon stick and bay leaves, along with about 4 to 6 cups of water, enough to amply cover the meat.
- Step 8
Cover and cook in the oven until the meat is fork-tender, about 2 hours.
- Step 9
Divide among bowls and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing on top, and a side of warm tortillas.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Anna
A lot of chiles have one name when fresh and another when dried. The guajillos are dried chiles, which is why the recipe toasts and then soaks them before blending.
Prairiedogg
why a skillet, then an oven proof pot? why not just use a dutch oven for all?
stephanie
a fine way to toast chiles without dirtying dishes or worrying about burning them, is to put them on a paper towel and just microwave them for fifteen to twenty seconds. (this is a kenji lopez-alt method and it really works! just, if you're toasting spicy chiles, resist any urge to deeply inhale as you open the microwave ;))
Ricardo Figueroa Quiroga
The secret recipe from my Great Grandmother also includes a 1/4 of a chocolate tablet (mexico Chocolate Abuelita) and it makes a difference.
JE
Has anyone done this with pork?
alex g
This was great. I bought some chuck roast, and left in an extra hour to simmer, though at 300. Outside of that, I followed the recipe and it came out super tender and packed with flavor. The whole house smelled so good. I made some pickled onions, added some avos, cilantro and lime. It’ll be great as tacos for leftover.
Tracy
Instant pot recipe: 3 1/2 lbs boneless beef chuck roast cut into 2 inch chunks. Season w/ 2 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper 2 dried ancho chiles no poblanos 2 tomatoes, not 28 oz canned apple cider vinegar not distilled white 1 tsp black peppercorns: toast 1 tsp cumin seed: toast Pressure 1 hour. quick release
Louis Peña
There is a growing vegan scene in Mexico which seems unique compared to Mexican-American vegans. For that I look to blogs by Mexicans in Mexico (you can run Google Translate). Here is a birria example: https://loveveg.mx/receta/birria-vegana/ JACKFRUIT is another option I’ve used. But don’t use straight out of can, you must sauté pieces first to drive out water, adding a little oil, dash of smoked paprika, cumin and nutritional yeast to coat before using in this (or any Mexican) recipe.
John
This is almost exactly what I have been doing to make birria, which I kind of pieced together from a few different recipes online. I like to add a couple anchos or pasillas and a couple chiles de arbol, as well as some coriander and a couple allspice berries. A mix of oxtail, short rib and chuck roast works great if you can't get bone-in beef shoulder
UWSGrrl
I can’t see why you can’t make this dish with beef short ribs. Any meat that you’d normally braise or stew should work. I’ll be making it this weekend with a combo of beef short ribs, and oxtails.
SLP
This calls for 5 lbs of bone-in shoulder roast. Anyone know how many pounds of boneless shoulder or chuck roast would substitute?
stephanie
i thought the amount of chiles in this recipe seemed kind of puny and then i read the accompanying article. it states in regard to mr. centeno "The foundation of his recipe doesn’t change: warm spices, about eight kinds of chiles, a lot of cilantro and canned tomatoes." of course the article goes on to say there's no "one" version of birria, but since this is specifically based on centeno's it's kind of sad the main ingredient has been stripped down so much. would love to know the actual recipe.
Oskar M
Like Anna said, gaujillos are dried. The fresh form is called mirasol.
CQ
Is there a way to cut this recipe in half? Would it be a mistake to just divide all of the ingredients by 2?
Aaron Lawson
I suspect fried tofu or firm tofu that has been frozen, thawed and squeezed would be best for this, or it will fall apart and become nasty. Another option would be the bean curd knots (sometimes called yuba) that can be found at Asian grocery stores -this is tough, thin sheets of been curd that has been sliced and knotted, and partially dried -it can hold up to long cooking. One more thought would be to try this Mapo Tofu style, adding very soft bean curd right at the end.
dolleuh
The 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes overpowers the guajillo. Use a 14-15 oz can instead & double the amount of guajillo; You will not regret it.
mrgerardwilson
I made this and thought it was good, I did with a mix of short rib and oxtail, and I think like others cooked for longer. My note is that I think it could take a lot more chillies, I added three cascabel and two arbol, but still not that much heat. If I made it again I would omit the cinnamon, I found it too dominant.
malpal
I made this with pork shoulder and would not do that again. The pork seemed dry. The adobo flavors are better suited to beef. I agree the recipe can handle more heat, but the flavors are very good without it. Make ahead tip: I made the adobo the night before. It was ready to add to the meat after I sauteed it.
Jared
This was completely fabulous and easy to make.
brad edwards
Terrific recipe! My husband from South Texas grew up with meats like this. He was full of praise — I think his estimation of my cooking prowess went up a couple of notches after this. I used a mix of beef shank and oxtail. 3 hours would have been better in the oven than 2, for meat falling off the bone. So I popped it back in the oven for an hour after dinner. Looking forward to great leftovers. But we eat it with flour, not corn tortillas.
Mick
This recipe makes for deliciously tender beef shoulder and a savory, lightly spicy sauce that is good enough to drink. The braise took a bit longer than suggested for me, but it was immediately clear when my beef became “fork tender” and ready to eat. Don’t rush it. The leftovers are also so tasty.
LouE
I used brisket and it came out perfect. Would use it again. Just took me all day!
Tim
Highly recommend cooking longer than suggested by up to an hour. I found it was not cooked long enough to be tender the first time around. I did 300 for 3 to 3.5 hours and it was much much better. My favorite beef stew of all time.
Bmoc
Since I blended up the chiles in the blender, I did not skin the poblano and found no difference in texture for the sauce
Dave
I added a circle of Mexican chocolate, did the whole thing in a Dutch oven on my gas grill. Then on a large cookie sheet I sliced a sheet of Hawaiian rolls across, layered Oaxaca Cheese, then the Birria, then more cheese (then I added chopped up Habanero, judiciously to some of them for my middle son who looooooves spice), then returned the top layer on top, brushed melted butter and then put all this in my pellet smoker for 20 minutes. Leftovers were ridiculous.
Henessee O. Ping
Earthy, fruity, sweet, piquant . . . delicioso! Meat: 3.5 Lbs Beef back ribs, 2.25 Lbs (+/-) Boneless short ribs. Additions, per others' notes: 2 Pasillas, 2 Anchos, 5 de Arbol, a few Piquins, all seeded and toasted per instructions for Guajillos in recipe; 1/4 tab Abuelita chocolate; 2 alspice berries, 3/4 tsp. whole coriander, toasted and ground (w/toasted 3/4 tsp whole cumin). Had to blow my nose a lot and wash my face after toasting all those peppers. Worth it!
JennE
This was OUTSTANDING! I used goat, lamb and venison. I didn't have a bay leaf so I omitted it, but it was fine without. I also eat low FODMAP, so no onions or garlic, and it would have been even better with them. The cinnamon gives it a nice warm touch. I would suggest adding fresh jalapenos, since mine wasn't spicy at all. I also think it would be better over rice than with a tortilla.
dimmerswitch
"lamb stew cuts on the bone" is suggested ingredient to replace beef and in making this dish per recipe three times, once w/ osso bucco cut lamb shanks and twice with bone in lamb shoulder, it has been "baah -d", as in great, delicious outcome. Takes 2 1/2+ 'ish' hrs to perfect tenderness. I like to make day ahead then remove fat from top and reheat. Freezes well. Travels well.
Dana
As I read this the poblanos are fresh (or they would be called anchos) but the guajillos are dried). It seems obvious from the instructions, but maybe not to everyone.
Joe
I make Birria about once a month. It's a big production! Trader Joe's sells a pretty good frozen Birria entree for $8.00 that's good for two meals.
T
Tried the TJ's Birria, good, but too salty.
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