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Pork carnitas served in warm tortillas
Golden crispy pork carnitas ready to be served in warm tortillas

Crispy pork carnitas

Author: Flavelo
Recipes Main Courses
The word Carnitas means 'little meats'. This is the Mexican confit pork: the meat is first cooked until tender in a mixture of water and its own fat, then when the water evaporates, it is fried until crisp in the remaining fat. The result: tender inside, crispy outside, intensely flavoured shreds of meat that people queue for outside taquerias.
🕒 Prep Time 20 mins
🍳 Cook Time 3 hrs
⌛ Total Time 3 hrs 20 mins
🍽️ Servings 6 servings
🔥 Calories 650 kcal
🌍 Cuisine Mexican

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

  • Thick-walled pot (Dutch oven) or large frying pan
  • Wooden spoon

Instructions

1 ✓

Preparation: Cut the meat into larger cubes, approx. 5-6 cm. Do not remove the fat! Season with salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano.

Tip: The fat is essential; it will protect it from drying out and it will fry crispy in this later.
2 ✓

Start cooking: Place the meat in the pot. Add the onion, garlic, the squeezed orange juice, and the peel too. Pour in enough water to just cover it.

Tip: The acidity and essential oils of the orange help tenderise the meat and add a fresh flavour alongside the heavy fat.
3 ✓

Tenderising: Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and cook slowly for approx. 2-2.5 hours until the meat is completely tender (falls apart from the fork).

Tip: This is the braising phase. If the water reduces too quickly, top it up.
4 ✓

Crisping: Remove the lid. Turn the heat up higher and boil away ALL the water. When the water has gone, the meat starts frying in the rendered fat (it will sizzle).

Tip: This is the magic: boiled meat becomes fried meat. Stir gently so it doesn't turn to mush, but browns on all sides.
5 ✓

Serving: Pick out the orange peel and onion. Shred the meat into coarse chunks. Serve in warm tortillas with onion, fresh coriander, and lime.

Tip: The traditional taco topping is simple: onion and fresh coriander. Salsa can go on liberally!

Recipe FAQ

It burnt before becoming tender.
The flame was too high, or there was too little water/fat. Keep the flame low, the liquid should just simmer.
It didn't get crispy.
You didn't evaporate the water completely at the end, or there wasn't enough fat under the meat for frying. Add a spoonful of lard at the end!

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg Pork shoulder (fattier cut)
  • 2 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp Ground cumin
  • 1 tsp Dried oregano
  • 4 cloves Garlic
  • 1 pc Juice and peel of an Orange (whole)
  • 1 pc Onion (quartered)
  • 2 tbsp Lard or oil
  • 300 ml Water (or enough to cover)