Birria de Borrego

Tweet
Pin It

Birria is a falling-off-the-bone soupy stew in preparation of dried red chilies and aromatic spices and it’s a popular filling for tacos. I love lamb so I’m braising lamb shanks as if I were making birria. This stew is popular throughout Mexico though it’s said to originate from the state of Jalisco. When you visit Guadalajara be sure to eat at one of the many large open air restaurants that specialize in Birria. You will see them on the highway from the airport to the city. Let’s get started….

Ingredients

Serves 2

2 lamb shanks

1 clove garlic

6 dried chile ancho/pasilla

1 bay leaf

2 clove nails

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon dried marjoram

¼ ground cumin

¼ ground nutmeg

½ cup chopped canned tomatoes

Salt and pepper

Preparation

Chile Paste

Remove stems and seeds from pods and rinse twice with water discarding the rinse water. Rehydrate the pod in water, for about 30 minutes), until the pods are completely soft turning them during the soak period. Retain the chile-liquor for the next step.

Add pods in the food blender with sufficient liquor to cover pods and puree the pods until the pods are completely liquified. Pass the liquid through a sieve into a bowl to separate the puree from the remaining solids. Set aside up to 2 cups of sauce. If you have less than 2 cups add water.

Lamb

Remove as much silver skin and suet as possible from the shanks and salt and pepper. Add two tablespoons of vegetable oil into a dutch oven, heat to med-high and brown the shanks about 4-5 minutes each side. Remove and cool. Use a sharp knife to make two slits on each side into the meaty portion of each shank. Stuff a thin sliver of garlic in each slit and set aside.

Heat the oven to 350^o F. Pour out and discard the fat from the dutch oven leaving a thin layer. Reheat the dutch oven to medium-high heat; add the clove, thyme, marjoram, cumin, nutmeg and bay leaf and cook to toast the ingredients for several minutes. Add the chile sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Add the shanks back to the dutch oven. Add the canned tomatoes bring to a boil, cover and put in the preheated oven. The cooking time will be about 2 1/2 hours. Turn the shanks over about halfway through the cooking time. Check the shanks every 45 minutes or so. If the liquid has reduced too much add more water.

If necessary, thicken the sauce by removing lamb shanks to a plate and simmering the sauce on the stove top for 15 minutes or until it coats the back of a spoon. Serve with white rice or mashed potatoes.