Birria tacos with Consommé (braised beef tacos with rich broth)

Ingredients

• 3.3 lbs beef short ribs
• 12 corn tortillas
• 3 onions
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3 ancho chilis
• 3 Guajillo chilis
• 3 arbol chilies (chiles de árbol)
• 3 tomatoes
• 33.8 fl oz beef stock
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tbsp apple cider
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 0.4 oz bay leaves
• 2.1 oz cilantro
• 4 limes
• 2.8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• oil (for frying)
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

1. 1

   Halve and peel onions. Peel garlic. Destem chilies and, depending on desired level of heat, deseed them. Sear meat in an oven-proof pot with a little oil until golden brown all over. Remove meat from pot. Then briefly roast chilies, onions, garlic, and tomatoes in same pot. Deglaze with broth and simmer covered for approx. 20 min.

2. 2

   Preheat the oven to 180/356 °C/°F. Puree vegetables together with broth, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, cumin, and oregano, and pour through fine sieve so smooth sauce forms. Return meat to pot, cover with sauce, add cinnamon sticks and bay leaves, and braise in oven at 180/356 °C/°F for approx. 3.5 hrs. until tender and falling from bone.

3. 3

   Dice remaining onion und finely chop cilantro and set aside for serving. Skim fat from the meat broth and set aside in a bowl. Remove meat from pot, remove the bones and shred meat with a fork, then mix some of the meat broth (consommé) into meat. For garnish: Mix onion and cilantro with lime juice. Then dip tortillas in fat one by one. Fill with meat, cheese, and some onion-cilantro mixture. Fold and briefly fry in pan until cheese is melted. Serve remaining consommé with some onion-cilantro mixture in bowl next to Birria tacos for dipping.