Birria de Res is a delicious traditional and authentic Mexican stew recipe. Makes great shredded beef using dried peppers. Use for dinner ideas like tacos, enchiladas, and more.
Fill a pot with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add all of the dried peppers and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let soak until soft, at least 15 minutes.
Heat a grill pan over high heat. Blister the tomatoes on all sides until they are starting to peel, approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. (You can also do this by broiling in oven, turning as needed.)
Dry the beef roast with paper towels and season all sides with salt and pepper.
Heat a Dutch oven pot on a stove over medium high heat.
When hot, add the meat and sear on all sides, approximately 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, but leave the beef in the pot. We will be cooking in this later.
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Make the sauce: put the tomatoes in a blender. Add all of the dried peppers (simply pull off their stems and discard stems before adding). Add the vinegar, garlic, black pepper, clove, cinnamon, thyme, oregano, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Add 1/4 of the chile pepper water and blend until smooth. Do not discard the remaining chile pepper water, you will use it later.
Push the sauce through a fine mesh strainer using a spoon or spatula into the beef pot. Once strained, discard the pieces you removed that are in the strainer.(Optional, if you want a smooth sauce. Otherwise you can skip this.)
Toss the beef in the sauce to coat. Add the bay leaves to the pot. Cover the pot and place in oven.
Cook for approximately 3 hours until the beef is falling apart. Every 45 minutes while cooking, baste the beef by spooning sauce over the top of the roast. If desired, to crisp up the beef a little, remove the lid for the last 20-30 minutes of cooking.
Serve as desired. Use the remaining pepper water to thin out the beef sauce or serve on the side as consume for taco dunking, if desired. All remaining pepper water can be discarded when you have used what you need.
Notes
Use more ancho and less chile de arbol for a milder heat, and more chile de arbol for a hotter spice level.Three pounds of roast will give you approximately 4 servings if eaten as a main course. If use for tacos, enchiladas, etc, you will get approximately 16 portions.Ideas for use: tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, burrito, or just as is!