Beef Machaca Tacos

Machaca is a Mexican shredded beef. It is slow cooked and full of big flavour! I have used it in Tacos for one meal and then I used some leftovers on a pizza.

You will need:

• 2 lbs/1 kg of beef chuck or ribs - cubed
• 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2/3 cup beer
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 lime juiced (plus another 1/2 at the end)
• 4 cloves garlic - chopped fine
• 1 onion - chopped fine
• 1 red chili - chopped fine
• 2 small tomatoes - chopped fine
• 1 tsp dry oregano
• 1 tbsp Frank's Red hot sauce
• 1 tbsp honey
• cilantro and lime to serve

Step 1: I used a combination of chunks of stewing beef and some beef short ribs. I always rinse under cool water and dry with paper towels.

Step 2: add smoked paprika, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper and ground ginger to meat and toss to coat spices. It also keeps the meat dry (like when you sprinkle meat in some flour before searing) I also find the the spices bloom well in the oil when they are seared on the meat.

Step 3: add olive to hot pan and sear meat (in batches if you have to) to get good colour on meat. If you put too much meat in the pan you just steam the meat and you don't get a nice colour. After the meat is nicely browned add all the meat to pan and pour in the beer to get the browned burnt bits off the bottom of the pan. I do not like to use a non-stick pan for this. You want the burnt bits so you can scrape them up with the beer after the meat has seared.

Step 4: add Worcestershire  sauce, lime juice, chopped fresh garlic, chopped onion, red chili, tomatoes, dry oregano, hot sauce and honey. Stir and cover with a lid.

Step 5: turn heat down to low and let slowly cook with lid on it for 2-3 hours until tender and falling apart. 

Step 6: let meat cool slightly and then remove meat and then shred slightly (leave some chunks) and remove all the fat or nasty bits and any bones. Add reduced sauce as necessary to keep moist or you can use it as a sauce.

Step 7: reduce sauce on medium heat to get nice and thick. Set aside. 

Step 8: in a bowl or food processor mix dough for flour tortillas. Let dough rest 1/2 in fridge then divide into 8 balls. Roll out each ball forming tortillas (I make mine quite thin). In a dry non stick pan place one tortilla in pan at at time to slightly cook on each side. Keep wrapped in foil to stay warm while you cook all of them. You can also slightly warm store bought tortillas this same way. If you have a gas stove you can start them in a pan and then cook right on the element, flipping often to avoid burning.

Step 9: prepare your salsa or guacamole (I mix both together) add your favourite taco topping like grated cheese, sliced lettuce, cabbage, sour cream, hot sauce, lime etc...

Step 10: assemble as you like it, wrap and eat it! REPEAT!

It also makes a great topping for your pizza. If you have leftovers they can be frozen if you don't use them right away.