Birria tacos went viral for a good reason. Birria is a traditional Mexican stew typically made with goat or beef. I’ve gone with lamb for this version as lamb has a high fat content. You want to dip the tortillas in this fat to fry them and stuff with meat and cheese.
Notes
I bought my Mexican dried chillies on Sous Chef.
I roasted the lamb leg for additional flavour.
Make sure you serve with plenty of chopped onions, lime juice and coriander. Those toppings make all the difference!
Ingredients:
2kg leg of lamb
4 guajillo chillies
2 pasilla chillies
4 bay leaves
1 large cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 chicken stock cubes, crumbled
1 large onion, cut into 4
1 large carrot, cut into 4
1 bulb garlic, halved
125ml cider vinegar
Mint stalks
Coriander stalks
4 tomatoes, halved
250g grated mozzarella
Corn tortillas
Lime wedges
Diced white onion
Chopped mint and coriander leaves
Directions:
FOR THE LAMB BIRRIA
Preheat the oven to 170c standard / 150c fan.
In a large frying pan heat olive oil and toast the guajillo chillies, pasilla chillies, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, loves and cumin seeds for about 2 minutes or until golden and fragrant.
Place the leg of lamb in a large deep roasting tin with 2 litres of water. Add the toasted whole spices and chillies, chicken stock cubes, onion, carrot and garlic. Cover the lamb with foil and roast for 1hr.
Remove the lamb from the oven and fish out the chillies, onion, carrot and garlic (discarding the papery skins) and transfer to a blender. Put the covered lamb back into the oven to continue to roast.
Add the tomatoes, coriander and mint stalks and cider vinegar to the blender and blend until you have a smooth paste.
Add the paste to the lamb and top up with more water if needed. Roast for another 3hrs or until tender and easily coming off the bone.
Shred the lamb off the bone and transfer the broth to a pot. Remove any whole spices.
Season the broth with plenty of salt and pepper and add additional water if it has heavily reduced.
Add a ladle of the broth to the shredded lamb and keep the rest in a pot on a very low heat.
FOR THE TACOS
Heat a large flat griddle pan or saucepan over a medium heat.
Dip a corn tortilla in the fatty layer on top of the broth. Transfer the tortilla to the griddle.
Add a layer of mozzarella to the tortilla and add some shredded lamb. Fold the taco over itself. Fry on both sides till golden and crunchy. Repeat with the remaining tortillas in batches.
TO SERVE
Generously squeeze lime into the tacos and add the diced onion and fresh herbs. Serve with a little pot of broth for dipping.
Enjoy!