Barbacoa lamb tacos
A traditional Mexican barbacoa is cooked in a hole in the ground, the meat wrapped in agave leaves and left to cook slowly for around 12 hours. Every region has its own way of making it; these barbacoa lamb tacos are from Sinaloa, in the north of Mexico. Barbacoa is often eaten at the weekend for breakfast: in Mexico people can buy it from restaurants that specialise in this dish. It is also made for special occasions.
Ingredients
- 3 ancho chillies, stem and seeds removed
- 2 guajillo chillies, stem and seeds removed
- 2 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
- ½ onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tbsp sea salt flakes
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 5 black peppercorns
- 2 cloves
- ½ leg of lamb on the bone, approx. 1.2kg/2lb 10oz, at room temperature
- 500ml/18fl oz lager
To serve
- 15 corn tortillas, warmed
- small bunch fresh coriander, chopped
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 2 limes, cut into wedges
- spicy salsa of your choice
Method
Lightly toast the chillies in a dry frying pan until fragrant. Put them in a bowl and cover with hot water to rehydrate for 10 minutes.
Drain the chillies and place in a blender with the tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt, cumin, cinnamon, oregano, peppercorns and cloves. Blitz until smooth and then rub through a sieve.
Put the lamb in a large casserole (ideally cast iron), pour the sauce and lager over it, cover and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Put the casserole in the oven. After 15 minutes, turn the heat down to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5 and cook for 2½–3 hours, until the meat is very tender and falling apart. About halfway through, check that the meat is still surrounded by liquid; if necessary, add a little hot water.
Once the meat is ready, remove it from the broth. Serve the broth separately. Shred the meat using two forks and serve in the tortillas. Add the coriander, onion, a squeeze of lime and some spicy salsa.
Summer
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