Michoacan Carnitas Tacos (Tacos de Carnitas)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide copper cazo from Santa Clara del Cobre or a heavy 7-quart Dutch oven
• •Slotted spoon or kitchen spider
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan
• •Cast iron comal for tortillas and salsa ingredients
• •Heavy cutting board and sharp cleaver or chef's knife
• •Blender or volcanic stone molcajete for the salsa

Instructions

1. 1

   Salt the pork

   Pat the pork shoulder, belly, ribs, and cuerito dry. Season all over with the 1 1/2 tablespoons salt and let the meat sit at room temperature for 30 minutes while you prepare the pot. Salt needs time to enter the meat. If you throw cold pork straight into the lard, the outside tightens before the inside learns anything.

2. 2

   Melt the lard

   Put the manteca de cerdo and water in a wide heavy pot, copper cazo if you have one, Dutch oven if you do not. Heat over medium-low until the lard melts completely. The water protects the meat at the beginning and cooks away later. You want enough melted lard to come at least halfway up the pork. Yes, that much. No me vengas con atajos.

   A copper cazo distributes heat beautifully, but a heavy Dutch oven works for a home stove. Thin aluminum scorches the milk and gives you bitter brown bits before the pork is ready.
3. 3

   Add pork and aromatics

   Lower the pork pieces into the melted lard. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaves, and dried Mexican oregano. Squeeze the orange halves over the pot, then drop the halves in. Pour in the milk and the Mexican Coca-Cola. The milk helps the surface brown and the cane sugar darkens the edges. This is market carnitas logic, not a dessert recipe.

4. 4

   Cook gently

   Keep the pot at a lazy bubble for about 2 hours, turning the pieces every 25 to 30 minutes. Do not boil hard. The meat should move slowly in the fat, not fight it. The shoulder will begin to loosen, the belly will look glossy, and the cuerito will soften without falling apart. That is what you want.

5. 5

   Brown the carnitas

   When the water, milk, and orange juice have mostly cooked away, the sound in the pot will change from wet bubbling to a lower frying sound. Raise the heat to medium and cook 35 to 45 minutes more, turning carefully. Watch the color. The pork should go deep gold, then mahogany at the edges. The skin should crisp where it touches the fat. Pull the pieces out before they dry. Carnitas should crackle outside and stay tender inside.

6. 6

   Drain and chop

   Lift the pork onto a wire rack set over a sheet pan. Let it rest 10 minutes. Discard the spent onion, garlic, orange, and bay leaves. Strain the lard and save it. Chop a mixture of shoulder, belly, rib meat, and cuerito together on a board, leaving rough pieces. Do not shred it into threads. A carnitas taco needs different textures in one bite.

7. 7

   Make the salsa

   Set the tomatillos, chile serrano, and garlic on a hot comal. Turn until the tomatillos are blistered and olive green, the serrano is charred in spots, and the garlic has softened. Toast the chile de arbol separately for 10 to 15 seconds, just until fragrant and darker red. Blend the tomatillos, serrano, garlic, chile de arbol, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until spoonable but not watery. Taste. The salsa should be sharp enough to cut the fat of the carnitas.

   Chile de arbol burns fast. If it turns black, throw it out. Burned chile gives you bitterness, not bravery.
8. 8

   Warm the tortillas

   Heat the corn tortillas on a dry comal until they puff in spots and get small toasted freckles. Keep them wrapped in a cotton servilleta so they stay flexible. Flour tortillas are a northern tradition. These Michoacan tacos take corn tortillas. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

9. 9

   Build the tacos

   Pile the chopped carnitas onto the warm tortillas. Add finely diced white onion, chopped cilantro, salsa de chile de arbol, and a squeeze of lime. Serve at once, family-style, with the cutting board, salsa, limes, and tortillas on the table. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for pork shoulder with skin, some belly, ribs, and cuerito. A good carnitas taco is not one cut. It is maciza, costilla, buche if you have it, cuerito, and fat working together.
• •Buy manteca de cerdo from a Mexican butcher if you can. The shelf-stable blocks from supermarkets are often hydrogenated and dull. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •If you cannot find Mexican Coca-Cola made with cane sugar, leave it out. Do not use corn syrup cola and pretend it is the same. The orange and milk will still give you good color.
• •The salsa belongs with the meat. Chile de arbol gives heat, tomatillo gives acidity, serrano gives a fresh green bite. This is not a place for sour cream, shredded yellow cheese, or lettuce. Those are not from this table.
• •Save the strained lard. Refrigerate it and use it for beans, sopes, gorditas, or the next batch of carnitas. In Michoacan kitchens, good lard is not waste. It is planning.

Advance Preparation

• •The carnitas can be cooked one day ahead. Store the meat with a spoonful of its strained lard, then reheat on a sheet pan at 425F for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges crisp again.
• •The salsa de chile de arbol can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Taste after chilling because tomatillo salsa often needs another pinch of salt the next day.
• •Dice the onion and chop the cilantro up to 4 hours ahead. Keep them covered and refrigerated, but warm the tortillas only when you are ready to serve.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 170g)