Tacos de Barbacoa de Borrego (Estilo Hidalgo) Recipe — Authentic Mexican

1 Ingredients

1

Place the lamb leg on a roasted maguey leaf and rub generously with adobo paste, then season with salt.
2

Place the rib rack on a second roasted maguey leaf, season with salt, and lay 5 avocado leaves on top.
3

Wrap each cut of meat tightly with its maguey leaf and tie with hemp twine to hold it closed.
4

In a deep cazuela that will fit inside your steamer pot, combine the soaked chickpeas, carrots, chayote, calabacitas, onions, garlic, cilantro, marjoram, the 3 reserved avocado leaves, peppercorns, salt, and enough water to cover by 5 cm.
5

Fill the steamer pot with water and line the interior walls with additional roasted maguey leaves.
6

Place the cazuela of vegetables inside the steamer, then set the steamer rack on top.
7

Place the rib rack package on the rack, then the leg package on top of it.
8

Fold the long maguey leaves lining the pot over the meat to form a tight, hermetic envelope.
9

Cover the steamer with its lid and seal the entire rim with a thick rope of masa to lock in steam.
10

Cook over low heat for 12 to 14 hours, checking the water level once or twice and topping up with boiling water if needed.
11

Break off the masa seal, lift out the meat packages, and carefully remove the cazuela of consomé from below.
12

Shred the lamb directly from the maguey leaves. Serve in warm tortillas with coarse salt and salsa borracha, with the chickpea-rich consomé in cups alongside.

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The adobo is typically built from guajillo, ancho and pasilla chiles, garlic, cumin, cloves, and vinegar — make it the day before.
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If you can't source maguey leaves, large banana leaves work as a substitute but won't impart the same earthy, mineral note.
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The consomé is sacred — never throw it out. Many families consider it the best part of the whole ritual.