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Challenge Notes
👋 Welcome to the 30-Day Instant Ramen Challenge! This series chronicles my journey to transform instant noodles into unique dishes. A crucial part of this challenge is that I am trying most of these dishes for the very first time. At the end of each post, I’ll give you my honest verdict on whether I would recreate it to try at home and any changes I would make.
It’s Day 26, and I was tackling a big request: Birria Ramen using Tapatío ramen! The goal here was to create a long-simmered Birria consommé and pair it with instant noodles.
The Story
I’ve made Birria Ramen once before with my friends Fernanda and Brian, and for their recipe, we used goat. They actually brought over a WHOLE entire goat for us to breakdown and use.
Since this was my first time tackling it solo, I used beef stew meat that I found on sale. Luckily, I snagged the birria seasoning at the same time.
After seasoning the meat, I seared it in three batches in my trusty Dutch oven. Once I added the chili mix and the beef broth, I have to be honest: it was REALLY spicy. I was actually a little worried for a minute. Especially since my spice tolerance has gone down quite a bit.
The rest of the cooking was just waiting for the magic to happen, which took about three and a half hours for the meat to become perfectly tender. Thankfully, the long simmer time worked its miracle, and the spice mellowed out beautifully.
I topped the bowl with chopped white onion, chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.
This has easily been one of my favorite ramen days. All the spicy, rich beef flavors worked well together.
Watch the full process and result in the video below!
The Ramen
This recipe used the following base for the broth seasoning and noodles:
Missed the beginning? Catch up on the previous days of the challenge here:
Beef Birria Ramen
Ingredients
Beef Birria Consomé
- 3 lbs Stew meat (chuck, shoulder, or short ribs, cut into large cubes)
- 6-8 cups Beef broth, I used 2.5 in my video, but I recommend this amount for more coverage
- 1 large Onion, roughly chopped
- 1 large Tomato, roughly chopped
- 14 g Birria seasoning
- 4 Guajillo peppers, stemmed and seeded
- 6 Arbol chilies, stemmed and seeded (use more for extra heat)
- 1 7oz can Chipotles con Salsa Adobo
- 5 Garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 packet Tapatío Instant Ramen Seasoning
- 2 Bay leaves
- 2 tbsp Oil, for searing
Noodles and Toppings
- 1 package Tapatío Instant Ramen, noodles only
- Lime wedges
- Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped
- Fresh Onion, white or red, finely chopped
Instructions
- In a large bowl, toss the meat cubes with the Birria seasoning. Set the seasoned meat aside.
- Lightly toast the guajillo and arbol chilies in a saucepan for 30 seconds per side until fragrant (be careful not to burn them). Now, add the onion and tomato to the pot along with enough water to cover them completely. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until the chilies are soft.
- Transfer the chilies, onion, and tomato, along with the simmering liquid, to a blender. Add the garlic cloves, the can of Chipotles Con Salsa Adobo, and the Tapatío instant ramen seasoning packet. Blend until you have a smooth, thick paste.
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat. Sear the seasoned meat cubes on all sides until browned, working in batches if necessary.
- Pour the chili paste over the seared meat. Add the beef broth (enough to generously cover the meat) and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and let it simmer for 3.5 to 4 hours, or until the meat is completely fork-tender.
- Remove the meat and shred it with two forks. Strain the remaining broth (consomé) through a strainer into a separate pot. Skim any excess fat from the top (reserve the bright red oil).
- Bring the Birria consomé to a boil. Ladle the boiling hot consomé directly into the bowl over the noodles, shredded meat, and vegetable flakes, filling it to the indicated line or until the noodles are fully submerged.
- Cover the bowl with its lid (or foil/a plate) and let the noodles steep for 4 minutes (or according to package directions).
- Remove the lid, stir the noodles, and add a generous scoop of the shredded Birria meat (if you want). Top with fresh chopped cilantro, onion, and a lime wedge.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Verdict and Re-creation Notes
- Recreate? Absolutely Yes! The dedication pays off with a bowl of ramen that’s worth every second of simmering.
- Changes? I would add 3-4 more cups of beef broth to get more consome yield. Since it was already so flavorful, I don’t think it would dilute it that much.
Share Your Take!
If you try this at home, I’d love to hear your adjustments! Let me know what tweaks made it even better.
