Recipe for Birria from Jalisco

Birria recipe or braised goat meat (Birria Jalisciense)

The birria jalisciense is a traditional dish from the mexican state of Jalisco, a dish usually made with stewed goat meat, combined with some other type of meat, prepared with a special sauce with many spices and chilies cooked slowly in the oven. There are many birria recipes on this site, so please look around if this is not exactly the birria recipe you are looking for...

Jalisco is a highly populated mexican state that became known to tourists because of Puerto Vallarta, a mexican Pacific Ocean beach holiday destination. Traditionally this dish was roasted in a pit oven, pretty much like the Cochinita Pibil. A pit oven is basically a hole in the ground, where at the bottom they placed previously heated stones in a specific arrangement, over this they would place a clay pan; over this again it would be covered with maguey leaves and the goat meat and chilli marinade placed on top, cover the pan with a clay cover and then buried with big rocks and more maguey leaves. A fire would be lit over it and kept alive for 4 or 5 hours over this 'inground oven'. Of course nowadays this dish is cooked in a very different way with the modern appliances we now have! The spices used in the sauce are black pepper, Thyme, Garlic, Oregano, Ginger, Sesame Seeds, Marjoram, Tomatoes and Onions. The chiles used are arból, ancho, pasilla, etc..

The meat is served in bowls, topped with the sauce you get from the cooking and sprinkled with raw minced onion, red chile sauce and lemons. Serve with fresh corn tortillas and refried beans.

Birria, Jalisco style or braised goat meat

Ingredients:

* 4 lb. goat meat, cut down to 1 inch pieces approximately (substitute for lamb if unavailable)
* 2 lb. of pork shoulder or pork ribs meat cut into 1 inch pieces approximately
* 4 ancho chiles cleaned and seeds removed
* 6 guajillo chiles roasted, seeds removed
* 5 serrano chiles roasted, seeds removed
* 8 Roasted bell peppers
* 1 cup vinegar
* 10 crushed black peppercorns
* 8 roasted garlic cloves crushed
* 1 teaspoon oregano
* salt to taste
* 4 roasted maguey leaves; simply omit if you cannot find them
* dough to seal the pot
* 2 lb. of roasted tomatoes
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 2 cups finely chopped onions
* 1 tablespoon of oregano when serving.

Making this recipe:

For the sauce:

In a skillet, over high heat setting, roast your chilies until they are slightly browned. The ideal thing is to roast them using a barbecue or gas stove, if you have them.
Using a food processor, blend together all the chiles with the garlic, pepper, oregano, salt and vinegar.

Put all the meat pieces in the pot you will use to cook the birria. Pour over the meat enough of the sauce we just did until all the meat is completely covered in it.
Close the pot, marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day put the maguey leaves at the bottom of the pot if you have them;
Pour one more cup vinegar over you put the pieces of meat, cover with another maguey leaf, cover the pot and cook in the oven at 200 ˚F, during at least 3 hours, or until the meat come off its bones.

If using a pressure cooker, cook for 30 minutes, then check if the meat cooked enough so that it is coming off its bones; if not add more water and cook a bit longer.

Pour and reserve the juices collected from the cooking of the birria.

Mix these birria juices with the tomatoes and cook over low heat 10 minutes.
Serve very hot over shredded meat into individual bowls, sprinkle with raw chopped onion and oregano. Serve with warm corn tortillas

Buen provecho!