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These Beefy Cheesy Street Tacos are Loaded with big flavor in a little package. Low Carb Birria Tacos dipped in the spicy beef consommé is truly a life changing experience.
I have to admit I had never heard of Birria Tacos before I noticed multiple recipes popping up on the internet over the last year. Traditional Birria tacos are made with Goat and served on special occasions. Most of the recipes nowadays are made with beef using a combination of lean and fattier cuts. The beef is seared in a cast iron pot and then braised in a beef stock loaded with chilies, garlic and tomato until the beef is fall apart tender. The Birria Tacos are served with a side of the braising liquid referred to as consommé to dip the tacos in.
As I mentioned earlier traditional Birria Tacos are made with goat meat but I find that today beef is more commonly used for the recipe. I prefer to use multiple cuts of meat to give the tacos a nice contrast of fatty and lean beef. I chose to use a combination of oxtail and sirloin but short rib, chuck roast or beef shanks would be great options. Oxtail has a lot of inter-muscular fat and rehires a long braise to become tender but the flavor you develop over this long cook is second to none. The sirloin is much leaner but shreds up nicely making it great for these Low carb Birria Tacos.
One of the most important steps to braising is searing the outside of the meat to form a crust. This caramelization will add so much flavor and is definitely worth the extra few minutes it takes to prepare.
Another Important step is to not be in a rush. This is the type of dish that you start in the morning and let cook all day long. Get yourself a good wide dutch oven so you have plenty of room to make a big batch of meat. You may need to brown the beef in batches since overcrowding the pan causes the meat to steam. Again, your patience will be rewarded.
Prepare a Sachet bag for your spices and herbs. When a recipe calls for herbs and spices that need to be removed from the sauce later I make a Sachet Bag. Place all of the ingredients in a piece of Cheesecloth then fold in the sides and tie of the top with butchers twine. Then you can incorporate all of the flavors into the sauce without having to fish out the ingredients one by one. You can buy Sachet bags that are already to go or use the cheesecloth method.
Even though there's a lot of chilies in this recipe it really not very spicy at all. A few added chipotle peppers in adobe would kick up the spice level if that's what you're looking for. Dried Guajillo, Ancho Pasilla Chilies along with tomato paste are the base for the sauce in this recipe. As the dried chiles simmer in the beef stock they will soften making them easy to puree later. Be sure to cut off the tops of the peppers and shake out as many of the seeds as possible. If you miss a few it's not a big deal as long as you get most of them.
Once the Consommé is finished and the beef is shredded its time to assemble. Get all of your ingredients ready and turn your oven on warm if your making a big batch. That way you can keep the tacos warm while you finish the rest. Get a sheet pan with a cooling rack to set the finished tacos on.
I use Mr Tortilla Low Carb Tortillas for this recipe because they crisp up when you fry them. This makes them perfect for Low Carb Birria Tacos. In a large cast iron skillet over medium heat add a tbsp of lard or avocado oil. Once the skillet is hot add the tortilla to the pan and top with cheese. Next add a small amount of the shredded beef to one side of the tortilla. Cook the tortillas for about 2-3 minutes until the outside is crispy and the cheese is melted. Use a Fish Spatula to transfer the tacos from the pan to the cooling rack. Continue making tacos in batches until you have enough. there will be leftovers.
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