Birria de Res (Mexican Beef Stew)

Sauce:

• 4 dried Ancho chiles
• 4 dried Guajillo chiles
• 1 T Diamond kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano (use Mexican oregano, if you have it)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves (optional)
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger (optional)
• 4 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1 14 oz can canned fire-roasted tomatoes
• 2 T apple cider vinegar

For the meat: 

• 1 1/2 – 2 c water
• about 3-4 lbs boneless beef chuck roast (or use brisket), cut into about 3″ chunks
• chopped cilantro and onions and sliced limes to garnish

Prepare the sauce:  give the chiles a quick 45 second roast on a hot, ungreased skillet, turning once; don’t let them burn.  It’s okay to skip this step…the depth of the flavor will suffer only slightly.  Cover the chiles with boiling water and soak them for about 10 minutes, being sure they stay submerged.  Remove chiles from the water, let cool slightly and then open the chiles with scissors and remove the seeds and stem.

Add the chiles to a blender or food processor, along with the remaining sauce ingredients.  Puree.

Put the meat and this blended mixture into a plastic bag, squeeze it all to distribute the mixture evenly with the meat and then marinate for 4 hours – or overnight, refrigerated.

Add the meat with the marinade and the water to an oven-safe pot and cover with aluminum foil or a lid and cook at 350 degrees for about 2 hours or until the meat is easy to shred.  Check near the end of the cooking time to see if it’s as liquid-y as you’d like.  If you’re going to serve this as soup, you may need to add more water.  Just add the water gradually, so you don’t dilute the yummy beefy flavor too much.

Remove the meat and shred it. Refrigerate it, if you don’t intend to use it immediately.  Check the broth and add salt, if necessary.  Ideally, you should refrigerate the broth overnight and skim the congealed fat off the next day.

You can make soup or tacos with your meat and broth.  For soup, return the meat to the broth and garnish with cilantro, lime, and onions; serve with warmed tortillas to dip in the broth.  For tacos add a little broth to the shredded meat and fill a warmed corn tortilla.  Top with cilantro, lime, and onions.