Start by preparing your dried chiles. Toast the ancho, pasilla, and negro chiles in a dry pan over medium heat. This step releases their natural oils, giving them a more robust aroma. Once toasted, soak the chiles in chicken broth until softened.

Blend the softened chiles with their soaking liquid, chipotles in adobo, and fish sauce until smooth. Set the mixture aside; this will become your rich and smoky sauce base.

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high. Add a tablespoon of oil, then brown the oxtails on all sides. This will infuse the sauce with additional richness. Remove the oxtails and reduce the heat to medium. Add your onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, and cloves.

Cook until the aromatics are deeply caramelized, which takes about 10 minutes. Deglaze the pan with apple cider vinegar, scraping up any browned bits for extra flavor, then mix in the prepared chile sauce.

Place your raw beef chuck chunks and browned oxtails into the Dutch oven. Pour in the chile sauce along with enough chicken broth to partially submerge the meat. Add bay leaves, cover, and cook in a 275°F oven for about 4 hours, turning the beef occasionally. The meat should be fork-tender and easy to shred when done.

Once finished, remove the beef chunks from the sauce and shred them. Simmer the sauce on the stovetop to reduce it slightly, intensifying the flavor. Return the shredded beef to the sauce, stirring it until well-coated. Remove the bay leaves and serve.