Dish · mexican
Carnitas
Pork shoulder cut into chunks and simmered slowly in its own rendered fat until tender, then crisped at the end so the outside turns brittle while the inside still shreds apart easily. Served in tortillas with onion and cilantro.
Where it comes from
The technique comes from Michoacan, where pork was cooked in large copper pots of lard partly as a way to preserve the meat before refrigeration was common. Orange, milk, or cinnamon sometimes went into the pot, a way to cut the heaviness of so much fat.
What cooks argue about
Cooks argue over confit-style cooking, meat submerged in lard at a low simmer, against a modern oven braise with little added fat. Another fight is whether orange juice, milk, or Coca-Cola belongs in the pot.
Nobody has published a carnitas recipe yet. The page stays out of search until one exists, which is the rule for every thin page here.