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Brisket tortillas with green chilli, tomatillo and cucumber salsa

Brisket tortillas with green chilli, tomatillo and cucumber salsa

“I want to make Lachlan Colwill’s brisket tortillas from Grace in Adelaide. Would you please request the recipe?”
Jerry Firth, Melbourne, Vic

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Brisket tortillas with green chilli, tomatillo and cucumber salsa

Serves 8
Cooking Time Prep time 30 mins, cook 12 hrs (plus infusing, resting)
To serve:   white corn tortillas and lime wedges
Braised brisket
1.5 litres (6 cups)   beef stock
750 ml   Shaoxing wine
750 ml (3 cups)   light soy sauce
200 gm   yellow rock sugar
½ head   of garlic
4   dried long red chillies
3   star anise
2 pieces   dried mandarin peel
1   cinnamon quill
1½ tbsp   ground cumin
1 tbsp   coriander seeds
2 kg piece   beef brisket
Green chilli, tomatillo and cucumber salsa
3 tsp each   coriander and cumin seeds
1   telegraph cucumber, seeds removed, coarsely chopped
1 cup (firmly packed)   coriander, chopped
¼ cup (firmly packed)   flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
2   long green chillies, seeds removed, coarsely chopped
½   red birdseye chilli, seeds removed, coarsely chopped
500 gm   canned tomatillos in brine, drained (see note)
50 ml   lime juice, or to taste
1½ tsp   caster sugar, or to taste


1 Preheat oven to 125C. For braised brisket, combine ingredients (except brisket) and 500ml water in a casserole, bring to the boil over high heat, boil for 2 minutes, reduce heat to medium, simmer to infuse (20 minutes). Remove from heat, add beef, ensuring it is completely submerged, cover, transfer to oven, cook until very tender (10-12 hours). Set aside to rest in liquid (1 hour) then remove and coarsely shred into a bowl. Add enough liquid to moisten (about 300ml; discard remainder). Season to taste, keep warm.
2 Meanwhile, for salsa, dry-roast spices until fragrant (1-2 minutes), then finely crush in a mortar and pestle. Process cucumber, herbs, chillies and dry-roasted spices in a food processor to a coarse paste, add tomatillos, pulse to combine, stir through lime juice, sugar and sea salt to taste.
3 Heat oven to 180C. Wrap tortillas in foil, heat in oven (2-3 minutes) and serve with brisket, salsa and lime wedges.

Note Canned tomatillos are available from select delicatessens and Monterey Mexican Foods.

This recipe is from the April 2011 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.

RECIPE Lachlan Colwill, Grace, Adelaide PHOTOGRAPHY Vanessa Levis STYLING Geraldine MuÑoz and alice storey


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