Carnitas
Michoacán's slow-cooked pork — chunks of shoulder simmered in lard with orange, garlic and spices until tender, then fried in their own fat until the edges crisp, and piled into warm corn tortillas.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg boneless pork shoulder, in 5 cm chunks
- 2 tsp salt
- 150 g lard
- 1 orange, halved
- 1 medium onion, halved
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 250 ml water
- 16 corn tortillas
- 1 small white onion, finely chopped
- 30 g coriander, chopped
- 2 limes, in wedges
- 200 ml green tomatillo salsa, to serve
Nutrition (estimated)
high confidenceRecipe total: 7883 kcal · P 483.6g · C 505.9g · F 427.4g
Estimated from 15 of 15 ingredients
Approximate estimate, calculated from the ingredients.
Video
Steps
Steps
- 1Season the pork with the salt. Melt the lard in a heavy casserole over medium heat.
- 2Add the pork, packed snugly, with the halved onion, garlic, cumin, oregano and bay leaves. Squeeze in the orange juice and drop in the squeezed halves.
- 3Add the water, bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook over low heat for 2 hours, turning now and then, until the meat falls apart when pressed.
- 4Uncover, remove the orange halves, onion and bay leaves, raise the heat to medium-high and let the liquid boil away, about 15–20 minutes. Once it is gone, the pork starts to fry in the lard.
- 5Fry for 10–15 minutes, turning only now and then, until the chunks are brown and crisp at the edges. Stirring too often shreds them before they crisp.
- 6Lift the pork out with a slotted spoon, pull it into rough pieces with two forks and season with salt if needed.
- 7Warm the tortillas in a dry pan for 30 seconds a side and keep them wrapped in a tea towel.
- 8Serve the carnitas in the tortillas with the chopped onion, coriander, lime wedges and salsa.
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Questions and answers
How long does Carnitas take to make?
About 180 minutes: 20 min prep and 160 min cooking.
What ingredients do you need for Carnitas?
15 ingredients: boneless pork shoulder, salt, lard, orange, onion, garlic, ground cumin, dried oregano, bay leaves, water, corn tortillas, white onion and 3 more.
How many servings does this Carnitas recipe make?
6 servings. The servings buttons above the ingredients rescale every amount.
How many calories are in a serving of Carnitas?
About 1314 kcal, with 80.6 g protein, 84.3 g carbohydrate and 71.2 g fat. This is an estimate from the ingredients, not a lab analysis.
Which diets does this Carnitas recipe suit?
It is dairy-free.
What cuisine is Carnitas?
Carnitas comes from Mexican cuisine.
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