505 Birria Ramen - Heavy Pr0n

Something pulled me toward a new culinary adventure through the week: Birria Ramen. Only had it once from a food truck over on the East Side of the Duke City, and it was awesome.

Started with a small chuckie and beef cheeks from the local Meximart. Hit both hard with Naturiffic QSalt.



Smoked at 250-300F over oak until 160F internal.




Meanwhile, I built the broth/sauce/consommé

Rehydrate the chiles:


Spices:


Put some color on the onions and garlic:


Add in the chiles:




Sent everything through the Instant Pot for 45 min on high... natural release.


Not done yet. Another 30.

Not done yet. Another 15.

The beef cheeks were the issue... they were NOT tender... until they were VERY TENDER... and they fell apart when I pulled all the kids out of the pool for shredding.



Ran all the spices (minus the cinnamon) with all the solids from the pot through the blender. + some sea salt... added the shredded meat back to the hot tub.



We'll let the kids relax in the hot tub for a while. The next steps are ready and waiting in the wings.



Discovered a "cat nap" in-progress on our sofa as I watch the USAF vs. USN football game on the telly... kid wore herself out this morning.



A toast to absent friends, and to those who are here with us now.



More to follow in a couple of hours. Family very excited about Birria Ramen this evening... especially the munchkin (which warms my heart).

After a brief nap, I heated some water and we opened the ramen packets



I used none of the spice mixture for the munchkin... and 1/2 of the spice mixture for CINCHOUSE. Yeah, I took the full packet for my own bowl.



I DID add in some of the onions when heating up the broth... and it was tops once I added in a scoop of meat & sauce over top of the ramen.



The whole family crushed their bowls (for the first time), and CINCHOUSE asked for more!

We've got probably 1/2 of the birria left in the pot. More shenanigans to come.

Breakfast Epilogue

Awoke with a need for more birria in some format or another.

Reheated a couple big spoonfuls in pyrex dish.
Threw in a few Fritos scoops, some grated Mexican cheese, small piece of bacon, an over-easy egg, and hit the top with some Valentina's Hot(ter) Sauce and a little lime.



"That'll eat right where you hold it!", as my grandfather used to say.

Y'all have a great Sunday!

Drunk Monkey said:

That's it! This is the Birria that finally pushes me over the edge. I have been seeing these online for a while and keep saying that I should try that. Looks amazing, In one form or the other the Birria will be my next cook. Thanks for sharing.

Click to expand...

Always happy to be a "bad influence!" If it helps, I used a combo of these recipes as a basis for my shenanigans. It's completely worth the effort. I'm not sure I can make my birria exactly the same next time, but I'll get pretty close... and there WILL be a next time.

Enjoy!

- Instant Pot Birria Tacos

- Birria de Res (our way)