Bandit Burrito Bowls with Raccoon Barbacoa
Transform any meat into a delicious pot of shredded, saucy goodness ready for a variety of preparations
I’ve been wanting to try cooking raccoon for quite some time now, but I’ve been hampered by accessibility. No one I know in my area coon hunts, and of those places I could go and try myself, there’s always something stopping me: nearby dumps (no thanks), neighbors with garbage or pet food left out (also nope), too-close shooting quarters (sorry for the hole in your hat there, neighborino!), or simply a lack of available raccoons when I show up to hunt (how rude!).
Not wanting to give up, I’ve kept my eyes open for opportunities and let my hunting-friendly peers know that I was looking to hunt raccoon or, at the very least, obtain some of the meat.
Luckily, my calls were answered when a buddy of mine sent a photo of a few skinned raccoons in his processing room with a line of text that said, “Want one?”
Boy howdy, sure do!
He assured me these raccoons were from a clean, wild area and that he’d taken care to process them cleanly, removing any fat and glands he’d found.
As a humorous side note, this same friend once texted “me” a picture of a legally trapped and skinned beaver with a text that said, “Want this?”
The text he received back went something along the lines of, “WTF? Why would I ever want that?!!!?”
Feeling confused and slightly hurt (I never turn down anything he offers me), he discarded the carcass and went on with his day. When he received another text asking, “Seriously, why would you send me that photo,” he became suspicious. Looking back at his messages, he realized his mistake: he had texted the photo to a random acquaintance who was also named Adam, an Adam that obviously wasn’t as thrilled as I would be at the prospect of cooking a skinned beaver. Oops!
Anyway, this time around, I took him up on his offer, bringing home my first whole raccoon.
The first thing I did, as I always do upon arriving home with a new type of meat, was to fry up a piece of loin with nothing but a touch of salt and pepper. Not bad! No weird or off-taste, just a nice, earthy, wild flavor.
For my first recipe with raccoon, I figured I’d go approachable rather than unique, interesting, or fancy. My mind went to barbacoa, a Mexican preparation that’s good for pretty much any meat, transforming it from its potentially alarming whole-animal state (not everyone wants to see a whole-roasted raccoon on a serving plate in the middle of the table) to a pot of luscious and saucy shredded meat.
Having a pot of barbacoa around is great, as it can be used for several different applications; a burrito bowl is just one of them. Use any leftovers to add to sandwiches, sliders, nachos, breakfast hash, burritos, breakfast sandwiches, rice, noodles, and of course tacos.
I give you instructions for making the barbacoa-inspired meat in either a Dutch oven or a slow cooker in the steps below.
Bandit Burrito Bowls with Raccoon Barbacoa
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- Add the oil to a Dutch oven over high heat.
- Add the raccoon quarters and sear on all sides until well-browned.
- Reduce heat to medium and add the rest of the ingredients, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Cook for 4 hours or until the meat shreds easily.
- Remove the raccoon and let it cool.
- Put the Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium-high heat and reduce the liquid until thick and saucy.
- Shred all of the meat off the bones, discarding the bones when you’re done. Shred the meat with two forks or with your hands. Toss the meat in the reduced sauce and mix well.
- From here, you can add the saucy meat to a greased skillet over medium-high heat and crisp it up, or just serve as-is.
- Add all of the Raccoon Barbacoa ingredients to a slow cooker, set to low, and let cook for 8 hours, or until the meat easily shreds off the bone. Remove the raccoon and let it cool.
- Meanwhile, either set the slow cooker to high and cook, uncovered, until the liquid reduces to a thick sauce, or transfer the liquid to a pot and do the same on the stovetop over high heat.
- Shred all of the meat off the bones, discarding the bones when you’re done. Shred the meat with two forks or with your hands. Toss the meat in the reduced sauce and mix well.
- From here, you can add the saucy meat to a greased skillet over medium-high heat and crisp it up, or just serve as-is.
- Mix the pico de gallo ingredients in a bowl.
- Split the rice between 6 bowls. Add a heaping spoonful of raccoon barbacoa to each bowl. Top the rice with even amounts of corn, beans, avocado, cheese, pico de gallo, and sour cream. Garnish with cilantro, hot sauce, and lime wedges. Enjoy!
