Birria Tacos

In a small pot, boil 2 cups of water. Pour the boiling water over the guajillo and chili de arbol chilis in a small bowl. Let sit for 15 minutes.

While the chilis are re-hydrating in the hot water, cut your beef chuck roast into 4oz pieces and season both the chuck roast and short ribs with adobo seasoning (I used the spicy version) in a large bowl.

Once the chilis have rehydrated for 15 minutes, drain the water and place the chilis in a food processor or blender. Add vinegar, tomatoes, chipotle, garlic, paprika, cumin, oregano, clove, and cinnamon. Blend/process until smooth.

Add the chili mixture to the large bowl with the meat and let marinate in the fridge for 2-4 hours.

If using the Instant Pot, you can sear on saute mode, but I find it doesn’t get as hot as I’d like, so I used a Le Creuset dutch oven to saute the onion and sear the meat in two batches. Reserve the marinade! Add 2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil and saute one diced onion.

Add the meat and sear.

After the meat is seared, add the marinade, and 4-8 cups of beef stock until the meat is mostly covered.

I then transferred the meat and braising liquid to the Instant Pot. I set the Instant Pot to cook on high pressure for 1 hour. Once done, natural release for 10 minutes (I always do some natural release with meats to ensure they don’t toughen), then manual release the rest of the pressure. If braising on the stove, bring the liquid to a boil, then turn the heat to simmer, and cook 4-6 hours until fork tender.

Remove the meat from the braising liquid.

Shred braised meat with 2 forks. Set aside.

Reserve half the the braising liquid in a medium sized bowl, and the other half to be divided for serving.

When ready to prepare the tacos, heat a non-stick pan on medium-high heat. No fat is needed as there is ample fat in the braising liquid.

Dip one tortilla in the braising liquid – it will turn a brilliant orange/yellow color- let any liquid drip off.

Place the tortilla in the heated skillet.

Add a thin layer of cheese to cover the tortilla.

Dip a second tortilla in the braising liquid, allowing any liquid to drop off. Place the second tortilla on top of the cheese covered tortilla in the pan, essentially making a quesadilla.

Flip the quesadilla, add a few ounces of shredded meat to half the quesadilla.

Fold the quesadilla in half to form a taco.

Repeat process for remaining tacos.

Serve tacos with a small bowl of the braising liquid to dip the tacos in, diced onion, and cilantro.