Mild Birria-Style Beef Tacos with Extra Soup Consommé

Instructions

Steps show original quantities. Use the adjusted ingredient list for your batch; times stay unchanged.

1. Pat 1.8 kg beef leg muscle dry and cut thick steaks into large 6–8 cm chunks if needed. Season with 17 g salt and 1¼ tsp black pepper. If using salty commercial stock, reduce the meat salt to 14–15 g. Let the seasoned meat rest while preparing the peppers; a longer dry-brine is beneficial when time allows.

2. Stem, deseed, and remove the inner ribs from 7–9 large sweet dried peppers. Toast in a dry skillet for 10–20 seconds per side, only until fragrant; do not blacken. Cover with boiling water and soak for about 20 minutes. Taste the soaking water: use some for blending if pleasant and fruity, but discard it if bitter.

3. Heat 1–2 tbsp rendered beef fat in the 14-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the 1.8 kg beef in uncrowded batches, browning 2–3 sides well. Transfer the browned meat to the pressure cooker, preserving the fond in the skillet.

4. Add 2 chopped onions to the skillet and cook 5–7 minutes, scraping the fond. Add 7–8 garlic cloves and cook 1 minute. Add:

   • 2 tbsp tomato paste
   • 2 tsp sweet paprika
   • 1½ tsp Mexican oregano
   • 1¼ tsp cumin
   • 1¼ tsp crushed coriander seeds

   Cook 1 minute.

5. Deglaze with 180–200 ml red wine, scraping the skillet thoroughly. Blend this mixture with the soaked sweet peppers and enough water or stock to make a loose, smooth puree. Strain through a sieve, pressing the liquid through and discarding papery solids.

6. Add the strained red sauce to the pressure cooker with the seared meat. Add:

   • 2 bay leaves
   • 1½ tbsp vinegar
   • 100–130 g rendered beef fat
   • optionally 3–4 homemade meat-stock cubes

   Add enough water/stock that the total liquid in the cooker, including sauce and wine, is approximately 1.4–1.7 L, without exceeding the pressure cooker's safe fill line.

7. Pressure cook on high for 70 minutes for large chunks, or 60–65 minutes for smaller pieces. Allow a 15-minute natural release, then carefully release remaining pressure if needed. The meat should split easily with a fork; if still tough, pressure cook another 10–15 minutes.

8. After opening, let the pot stand about 10 minutes so the red fat rises. Skim most of the floating red fat into a separate bowl, reserving it for crisping the meat and frying tacos.

9. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and shred or chop while warm. Mix the meat with about 2 ladles of broth and 2–3 tbsp reserved red fat so it remains juicy.

10. Taste the remaining broth. To make a larger amount of drinkable soup, add hot water or light stock in 250 ml increments, simmering briefly and tasting after each addition. A useful target for this 1.8 kg batch is roughly 2.5–3.2 L finished consommé, but final dilution is by taste.

11. If the extended soup tastes flat but is already salty enough, heat 1 tbsp reserved red fat and bloom:

    • ½ tsp sweet paprika
    • ½ tsp Mexican oregano
    • ¼ tsp cumin
    • ¼ tsp crushed coriander seeds

    Bloom for 20–30 seconds. Stir into the soup. If it instead needs salt, adjust gradually after dilution.

12. At service, heat reserved red fat in cast iron and crisp only the portion of shredded meat being served for 60–90 seconds, retaining a juicy interior. Fill tortillas, fold, and fry the tacos in reserved red fat until crisp on both sides.

13. Serve the consommé hot with finely chopped onion, cilantro, and lime or lemon. Keep the main pot mild; add hot sauce only to individual adult servings.

Success cues

• Beef separates easily with a fork and shreds without toughness.
• A distinct layer of red, pepper-flavored beef fat rises to the surface after pressure cooking.
• Shredded meat remains juicy with crisp edges after its final sear.
• Finished consommé is rich and beefy but thin enough to drink as soup rather than functioning only as a dipping sauce.
• Dried peppers smell sweet and fragrant after toasting, never burnt or bitter.

Scaling notes

Scale the beef and linear ingredients proportionally, preserving ranges. The 1.4–1.7 L starting-liquid target includes sauce and wine; do not add that volume again as water. Extend the soup after cooking in 250 ml increments, aiming for roughly 2.5–3.2 L at the original batch size only if the flavor supports it. Stock cubes, broth and fat returned to the meat, and serving amounts require judgment. The optional spice-bloom quantities are fixed starting doses, not automatically multiplied. Reserved broth and red fat come from the braise and are not extra purchases. Keep within the pressure cooker’s safe fill line; do not multiply pressure-cooking times by yield.

Storage

• Store shredded meat, consommé, reserved red fat, and tortillas separately.
• Reheat the consommé gently.
• Crisp only the portion of meat needed for each meal in reserved red fat.
• Use reserved red fat to fry freshly assembled tacos when reheating leftovers.

Substitutions

• Large locally available sweet dried peppers were used instead of specific Mexican guajillo/ancho/pasilla chiles.
• Mexican oregano is preferred in the red sauce.
• Lemon may substitute for lime at serving.