A recipe for cookoff-winning quesabirria tacos
Spend an afternoon making delicious, savory birria for tacos
People of the world, how are you this Wednesday? We are halfway through the week, it’s getting chillier outside, sports are on tv, and fall is in full swing. With all of these things happening, I have the best weekend project for you: quesabirria tacos!
Remember a few weeks ago when we talked about a pop-up menu from China Poblano (in Las Vegas) at Oyamel (in Washington, DC)? One of our new dishes was the quesabirria taco, which has been so popular at Oyamel that we’re keeping them on the menu for now (don’t forget…they started at the menu as a special at China Poblano before becoming a permanent fixture!) They’re made from a slow-cooked meat stew called birria (made in many parts of Mexico, but originally believed to come from Jalisco), full of amazing spices like coriander, cumin, dried chiles, onion, and garlic. Traditionally, birria is made from lamb or goat, but our recipe features a combination of lamb and goat.
Quesabirria is a relatively new take on the tradition, which started at taco stands around Tijuana and made its way up to Southern California and then eventually across the U.S. The amazing birria meat is stuffed into a corn tortilla and griddled with cheese, and served with a side of its own cooking liquid, called consomé.
People, these tacos hit every note you could possibly imagine. The crispy, crunchy outside of the tortilla, containing the spicy meat and gooey, salty cheese, with sharp bits of white onion and fresh cilantro, all dipped in an amazing broth that hits every flavor sense a human being can experience, is one of life’s greatest pleasures (and one of the culinary world’s greatest recent street food inventions).
The quesabirria taco at China Poblano and Oyamel was so popular that, after we announced it, we received many, many requests for the recipe. This recipe is special because it comes from one of the chefs at China Poblano, Laura Vargas. Laura’s recipe is inspired by her cousin, and it’s as authentic as it gets, because birria is so popular in her hometown of Magallenes (about two and a half hours east of Guadalajara) that they hold a birria cookoff, which Laura’s cousin won!
This recipe is not meant for a quick weeknight meal, but for an amazing long, slow day in the kitchen, when you can put all your love into it…the food will feel it in the end. Maybe you put on a fútbol (or football) game, maybe a tv show you’ve always wanted to watch, or just turn on some music and open a beer, turn on your fireplace…this is for all the romantic cooks out there who enjoy the cooking process as much as the end product.
Of course you can also make your own tortillas, which is always rewarding if you know how—I love to start with the corn masa from Masienda (we grind our own Masienda corn at Oyamel to make our tacos!), or now you can find their premade tortillas at Whole Foods. No matter what, make sure you invest in good tortillas, because that stew you make, and all the time you spend making it, really deserves to be contained in a perfect package. Please note that the meat will make more than 8 tacos, but you can repeat the process for as many tacos as you want.
Quesabirria tacos
Makes 8 tacos (plus meat for many, many more)