If you’ve gotten takeout from any Atlanta taqueria or taco-focused truck or pop-up in the past several months, chances are you’ve already tried birria, the ruddy, guajillo chile-laden meat stew originally from the Mexican state of Jalisco.
You’ll find birria in taco form, with shredded meat stuffed into fried cheesy quesabirria tacos that are dipped into the strained cooking broth, called consommé. Or you may find consommé ladled over ramen and the meat layered on top of pizza or any manner of fusion-inspired dishes. The dish can also, of course, be served just as it comes out of the pot, in soup form, with warm tortillas alongside.
Birria is, it’s safe to say, the dish of the moment. El Tesoro General Manager Samantha Eaves attributes the trend to the increased desire for comfort food that comes during economic downturns. “I think it’s trendy because it’s kind of like when grilled cheese became popular, it’s trendy because it’s comforting and good,” she said. And quesabirria tacos, at least, are well-suited to the current need for takeout.
El Tesoro’s kitchen manager and birriero Hugo Suastegui said the tacos work so well to go because frying the tortillas holds the taco together. Frying also lends the tacos their robust flavor, said Suastegui. The fat “gets that flavor from the spices from the birria right on the tortilla, plus you get the meat inside.”
And even if you stick to eating birria in its simplest form, you’ll likely be trying something different at each and every location you choose. Indeed, besides the guajillos and some kind of meat, the one thing that birria recipes have in common is the fact that they’re all different. Some use tomatoes, some are made from a mix of meats, and still others have been transformed to a vegan dish, with pulled jackfruit replacing the beef, goat or lamb.
While in its most traditional form, birria is made using goat, in Atlanta at least, you’re most likely to find birria made with some cut of beef. “It’s really popular here just to use beef,” said Suastegui. “But I think the best birria (is made from) lamb or goat. … Goat doesn’t have a lot of meat and that’s (why) it has good flavor; (it’s) got more bone than anything.”
“Goat is slightly harder to get people to try because it’s not a popular protein consumed in the U.S.,” said Marco A. Saldierna, of the pop-up DMT Tacos. Instead, Saldierna and partner Daniela Guevara use beef knuckle in their birria. “Beef still gives us an equally delicious product that lends itself really well to the process of making birria.”
DMT’s birria gets its distinct, deep flavor and rich, substantial broth from an extended cook time, tomatoes, plenty of beef bones, allspice, cinnamon, bay leaves, and the unrefined Mexican sugar called piloncillo. “I think what makes our birria special is the amount of time we put into making each batch and the simplicity of the ingredients we use. It’s definitely something we learned firsthand that can’t be rushed,” said Saldierna.
At El Tesoro, the birria is made from beef stew meat, and the consommé is a tomato-less, brothy, and lightly spicy elixir with a slick of red fat on top. Despite the fact that you’ll see these birria components served in ramen, or occasionally, in mashup dishes like birria con bone marrow, the heart of Tesoro’s recipe is a homestyle dish. “The head chef (Cristina Lugo Soto) … started making the birria at home,” said Suastegui, “so this recipe actually comes from the home.”
Saldierna urges home cooks to be patient. “Take the time to execute the recipe you’re following correctly because you will definitely taste the difference in the end,” he said.
Once you’ve finished cooking, both the birria meat and the consommé can be used in as many creative ways as you’d like. And like any stew or braised dish, it also keeps well in the fridge and freezer, and it always tastes best the next day. This is an important point if you choose to make the birria for its, er, curative properties, and why Suastegui thinks the trend isn’t going anywhere.
“If you go to a Mexican restaurant, they (serve) it on the weekend because hungover people want it,” he said. “One day, you hang out with your friends, and the next day, you find a place to have a birria.”
RECIPES
Homemade birria is not terribly difficult, but because it takes several hours, it’s best suited to tackle as a weekend project, saving leftovers to make tacos and ramen later on in the week. You can also save some time by preparing birria using an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker, which cuts the cooking time down by about two-thirds.
Credit: Chris Hunt
Credit: Chris Hunt
Birria de Res, inspired by El Tesoro and DMT Tacos
This recipe uses a mix of easy-to-shred, flavorful beef chuck and gelatin-rich beef marrow bones. You can play around with the proportions of meat and bones as you’d like, keeping the total weight around 5 pounds; bone-in beef short ribs are a wonderful addition, as is lamb shoulder or shank. Serve the dish as a stew, with tortillas on the side, or save for tacos or ramen.
Credit: Chris Hunt
Credit: Chris Hunt
Quesabirria Tacos
Cheesy and rich, these crisp fried tacos get their spicy outer shell by coating the tortillas in rendered birria fat. Do not skip this critical step. Feel free to adjust the amounts below to make fewer tacos, if desired. The technique is more important than the proportions.
Credit: Chris Hunt
Credit: Chris Hunt
Birria Ramen
Turning birria con consommé into ramen is as easy as adding boiled noodles to the bowl. This dish can be scaled up or down, depending on how many servings you’d like, and it can also be served alongside quesabirria tacos for a real treat.
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