Goat Birria

Name: Goat Birria
Yield: Serves 6–8
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 3 lb. bone-in goat or pork shoulder, cut into 3″ pieces (ask your butcher to do this); 2 tbsp. canola oil; 1 2″ piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced; ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper; ½ tsp. ground cumin; Corn tortillas, warmed, for serving (optional); ½ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro; Lime wedges, for serving; ½ tsp. ground cinnamon, preferably Mexican cinnamon; 1 dried guajillo chile, stemmed and seeded; 1½ cups chicken stock; 1 serrano chile, stemmed; 2 tsp. dried oregano, preferably Mexican oregano; 5 cloves garlic, unpeeled; 1 cup boiling water; 8 tomatillos, husked and cored; Kosher salt, to taste; 1 medium white onion, halved (one half finely chopped); ¼ cup cider vinegar

Preparation info

Serves
6–8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Soups and Stews

By The Editors of Saveur

Published 2015

About

Birria, a spicy specialty of the Mexican state of Jalisco, is cooked slowly to ensure that the meat becomes fork-tender and the tomatillo broth is infused with a rich, meaty flavor. If you can’t find or don’t like goat, use bone-in pork shoulder in its place.

Ingredients

1 dried guajillo chile, stemmed and seeded
1 cup boiling water
8 tomatillos, husked a

Americas
Mexico
Jalisco
Main course
Gluten-free
Spicy

Method

Heat a 6-qt. saucepan over medium-high. Add guajillo chile and cook, flipping once, until lightly toasted, 3–4 minutes. Transfer to a blender, add the boiling water, and let sit until soft, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, return saucepan to medium-high and cook tomatillos, garlic, whole onion half, and serrano chile, turning as needed, until charred, 12–15 minutes