Birria! With chicken? First thing you need to know about me is that I am a curious cook, so I had to investigate! Lol! Traditional birria is not prepared with chicken, but is traditionally prepared with goat or lamb. The beef version is most popular in the states with it’s quesa-birria tacos and even ramen! Talk about fusion cooking! I love the flavors of the consome so much that I decided to try it with chicken for my followers who don’t prefer the red meat. Definitely going to use the consome base for a seafood version soon! Some do not like stepping out of the traditional recipe and that is perfectly fine. But, this chica likes to play with her food ingredients! No disrespect intended.
How New Recipes Are Developed!
Sometimes it’s just a home cook feeling creative and fusing flavors and ingredients that they enjoy. They use their family and friends as taste testers, lol! And sometimes it happens because you are missing a traditional ingredient, so you substitute with another ingredient. When you hear the words, “it’s a keeper!” Then you know you will be rotating that recipe in your menu plan. Testing recipes is one of my favorite things to do and I still get excited! Of course this stove top birria is much easier to accomplish than preparing it outdoors in an underground oven. For most of us, that is not an option.
Quesa-tacos? Who knew that’s what we have been enjoying forever!
I honestly never heard the term quesa-taco until the whole beef birria craze started several years ago. I always thought that a quesa-taco was a browned cheese disc folded over to resemble a taco instead of using a corn tortilla. Then when I saw the quesa-birria I thought, isn’t that a quesadilla? I grew up on corn tortilla quesadillas and didn’t see flour tortilla quesadillas until I moved to Texas in the late 70’s. One thing is for sure is that depending on what region of Mexico you are in, the dishes may look alike, but have total different names.
Please make sure you wash and disinfect any surface thoroughly that comes in contact with the raw chicken. I am a freak about cleaning when it comes to chicken, especially!!
Mis en place, the set up!
Make it a habit to measure out all of your ingredients when approaching a new recipe or any recipe for that matter. Not unless you are just winging it and know the recipe well. The other day I was in a hurry and didn’t lay out all of my ingredients and it stressed me out! Never again! I was fumbling trying to find ingredients when I had already started cooking.
Sauté the onions and garlic to add more flavor to your sauce! Don’t be afraid to use spices, cinnamon and cloves you normally see in sweet desserts. The flavors are subtle, but noticeable.
Adding the spices and dried chiles to the hot oil will bring out more of their flavors!
Bring all the ingredients up to a light simmer. Shut off the heat and let all the ingredients soften for 10 minutes before blending.
Frying the sauce or simply cooking the sauce after blending it will help develop the flavors and cook out any impurities. Sauces like this freeze well and improve in flavor when frozen for a few months. For the chicken version, I cook the sauce ahead while I am preparing the chicken. It will cook less than the beef version, so jump start it ahead.
You can use pieces of chicken to add more flavor and a little more fat if you prefer. I enjoy using chicken thighs, but you can mix with chicken breast. The breast tends to be a little more dry if cooked too long.
Sear and brown the chicken and finish the dish in the same pot! All those bits at the bottom of the pot will marry with the broth, then sauce and taste delicious!
Some ingredients that I like adding towards the end are bay leaves, cilantro, epazote and oregano. In this particular recipe, I added bay leaves.
When preparing this version, two small portions of chicken thigh is enough for a serving generally. Try to calculate when you are purchasing the chicken.
Traditionally birria is served with a spicy red salsa on the side. On this day I served it with salsa macha, but you can go a different route and choose from a few other dried chile salsa recipes.
But if you are craving those ques-birria tacos, let’s do it!
Shred the chicken. Preheat a nonstick skillet for a few minutes at medium. Add 1/3-1/2 c shredded chihuahua, Jack or Oaxaca cheese. Place a corn tortilla on top of the melting cheese. After a few minutes, flip the entire thing over. Cheese should have a crust. Add shredded chicken, fold over and cover tacos with a light coat of the fat that is on the top layer of the consome. Fry until desired consistency.
I overstuffed the first taco and my tortillas started to bust open! Lol!
Birria de Pollo-Chicken Birria! What?
Ingredients
- Avocado oil
- 1/2 white onion, 226 gr reserve the other half for garnish
- 3 large cloves of garlic, 26 gr smashed
- 1 inch piece of ginger, sliced
- 2 Roma tomatoes, 120 gr quartered
- 10 med Guajillo, 66 gr stems and seeds removed
- 3 Chile morita, 14 gr
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp marjoram
- 1/2 tsp whole peppercorns
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick
- 4 c water for sauce
- 2 1/2-3 lbs Ibs boneless chicken thighs fat trimmed, about 10-12 pieces
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 6 c chicken broth
- 3 bay leaves
Garnish
- 1/2 white onion, diced
- 1/3 c Chopped cilantro
- Lime wedges from 2 limes
- Spicy salsa see link!
Instructions
- Remove the stems and seeds from Guajillo peppers. Roughly chop half of the onion, garlic, peeled ginger, and quarter the tomatoes.
- In a skillet at medium heat preheat 1 tbsp of oil for a few minutes.
- Add onions, ginger, and garlic to preheated oil. Sauté for 3-5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the thyme, marjoram, cumin, peppercorns, and cinnamon. Stir to combine. Add the dried Chiles. Stir and sauté for 4-5 minutes.
- Pour in 4 c of water or broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let ingredients steep.
- When ready, transfer all the ingredients from the pan into the blender jar. Season with salt, to taste. Secure the lid. Blend on high until smooth. Pour into saucepan and heat to medium/low.
- After trimming the fat off the chicken, season lightly with salt and pepper all around
- In a large pot at medium heat, preheat 2 tbsps of oil for a few minutes. Sear and brown the chicken for 3 minutes per side. Pour in 6 cups of warm broth. Bring to a simmer. Pour in half of the red chile sauce. Reserve the remaining sauce for more birria later. It freezes well. Stir well to combine. Add bay leaves. Reduce heat slightly and continue cooking for 35 minutes. Taste for salt.
- At this time, you can place the chicken pieces with some of the consommé. Or you can shred the chicken and prepare quesatacos and serve the consommé on the side. Garnish with onion, cilantro, lime, and a spicy salsa.
Notes
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Birria de Pollo-Chicken Birria! What? OMG, this was so favorable, so delicious, nice & spicy. Used extra lime & your salsa recipe (thanks) Made it both ways as Pollo Birria w/the juicy chicken thighs, then the Quesatacos w/ Mex. cheese on flour tortillas (husband loved them) & dunking birria sauce. Wonderful meal ! Yes, I love the traditional Mexican recipes, but this was a yummy-yum-yum delight & surprise. Keep up your imaginative Mexican recipes & inspirations. Caldo de Mariscos en Consome Picoso? Yeah, I like the sound of that & look forward to that recipe, keep me posted. Gracias
I can’t wait to prepare that caldo de mariscos!! As always, thank you for taking the time to write!!
This is just what I have been looking for! Beef is so expensive nowadays 😩 I’m glad I can make my favorite Tacos with Chicken. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe 😘
Hello! I am excited to try this recipe. The guajillo chiles. Is it 66 grams of guajillo chiles then remove stems and seeds or 66 grams after removing stems and seeds.