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.
Versions
Nobody has published a carnitas here yet. When somebody cooks one from a video and publishes it, their version appears in this list, with a link back to the original.
What goes in it
Each one opens everything else made with it.
lard
bay leaf mexican
garlic
cumin ground