Hilachas

The beef is shredded into strips and combined with a recado of tomatoes, chiles and toasted thickeners.

Beef pieces cook with thyme, bay leaves and salt, then cool before being pulled into strips with the fingers.

Vegetables cook separately while seeds, bread and tortillas are browned on a comal. The cooked and toasted ingredients are crushed on a grinding stone.

The shredded meat and recado return to the retained meat broth. After a first simmer, small potato pieces are added and cooked further.

The source suggests rice and hot sauce as accompaniments.

In Paula Bendfeldt-Diaz’s separately described hilachas recipe, she recalls eating a warm bowl with potatoes and carrots. The service detail belongs to her version; the preparation above follows the Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes recipe.