Birria-style Pork Tacos

This recipe may seem daunting, but I promise it’s pretty simple and the taste is worth it. Beginning with dried chile peppers adds a deep, authentic flavor to the braising liquid that delivers so much flavor. If you prefer beef, you could easily sub that instead of pork. Pork is a great, budget friendly option for delivering lots of flavor for a small cost.

Ingredients:

• 4 dried gajillo peppers

• 4 dried ancho peppers

• 1 large yellow onion

• 2 large roma tomatoes

• 8 peeled garlic cloves

• 5 pound bone in pork shoulder or boston butt

• 1 heaping tablespoon of chiles in adobo sauce

• 2 teaspoons cumin

• 2 teaspoons paprika

• 2 teaspoons dried oregano

• 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

• 32 oz carton of chicken stock (or broth)

• salt and black pepper

• 3 cups shredded monterrey jack cheese

• flour tortillas

• 1 cup canola oil

• sour cream for serving

• guacamole for serving

• cilantro for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Meanwhile, season the pork shoulder with plenty of salt and black pepper.

2. Place a large dutch oven over medium heat, add 1/4 cup of canola oil to the pot. Once the pot is hot, add the pork and sear each side until a nice brown crust develops.

3. While the pork is searing, take a smaller dutch oven and add 1/4 cup of olive oil and turn the heat to medium.

4. As the pot gets up to temp, remove the stems and seeds from the dried peppers and then add the peppers to the hot oil. Let the peppers cook a few minutes on each side and then add in the onion (peeled and quartered) and allow to cook for a few minutes.

5. Slice the tomatoes into quarters and remove the hard core. Peel and smash the garlic cloves. Once the onion has developed a bit of browning, add the garlic and tomatoes to the dutch oven with the onions and peppers. Allow to cook for a few more minutes.

6. Add the cumin, paprika, oregano, chiles in adobo sauce, white vinegar and chicken stock to the dutch oven. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.

7. After 15 minutes, carefully transfer the pepper mixture into a blender and blend until smooth.

8. Once blended, pour the pepper mixture over the pork, cover the pork with a lid and place into a 300 degree oven for 3 hours.

9. After 3 hours, remove the pork from the oven. Salt and pepper to taste. The bone should slip out cleanly from the meat. Shred the meat with forks.

10. Heat a nonstick skillet to medium heat, add a few tablespoons of canola oil. Dip a flour tortilla straight into the dutch oven with the shredded meat and then flip so that both sides are covered in sauce. Add the tortilla to the non stick skillet, add a few tablespoons of shredded meat on one side of the tortilla and then a few tablespoons of monterrey jack. Use tongs to fold the tortilla in half like a full moon.

11. Cook the tortilla on each side until it has hardened a bit and the cheese is melted. Cut the taco in half, garnish with cilantro and serve with sour cream, guacamole and hot sauce to taste. We preferred the serrano hot sauce by Yellowbird. Enjoy!