How to Cook Barbacoa
Most authentic Mexican restaurants will offer barbacoa meat on the menu, usually served up taco-style.
Traditionally barbacoa is meat from the head of a sheep or a cow, wrapped in leaves and steamed in an underground pit. Today in the United States, however, barbacoa is made simply with beef or pork chuck that is slow-cooked until it's very tender. The meat is then shredded and served with onions, cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice. Although the process of preparing a barbacoa-style meat dish takes time, it's fairly easy to prepare using your oven.
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Things You'll Need
- 1 lb onions, chopped
- 1 lb diced tomatoes, with juice
- 4 cloves garlic
- 3 oz. jalapenos, chopped
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 3 tbsp. cilantro
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- 2 tsp. oregano
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1 boneless beef chuck or pork shoulder, 4 to 5 lbs
Instructions
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1
Add the onions, tomatoes and juice, minced garlic, chopped jalapenos, chicken broth, red wine, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper to a large roasting pan.
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2
Place the meat into the pan, turning to coat all of it in the marinade.
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3
Place the pan in the refrigerator to allow the meat to marinate for 4 to 24 hours, turning it over every few hours.
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4
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
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5
Place the roasting pan in the oven and cook the meat for 4 to 5 hours per pan, until you can easily pull the meat apart with a fork. For beef, the meat well be very tender an an internal temperature of at least 200 degrees Fahrenheit and for pork the temperature should reach at least 190 degrees Fahrenheit.
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6
Place the meat on a large platter to cool and reserve the excess juices in the pan.
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7
Pour the juices into a frying pan and boil for 30 minutes or until it reduces to 1 cup.
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8
Shred the meat with two forks or with your hands if the meat is cool enough, discarding any excess fat and tissue.
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9
Pour the hot juices over the shredded meat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
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Tips & Warnings
You can choose to wrap the meat in banana leaves if available and secure with cooking twine. The banana leaves will help keep as much moisture into the meat as possible.
Although not as common in the U.S., lamb can also be cooked barbacoa-style if you prefer.
