Carnitas

 

This recipe for homemade and paleo style carnitas is delicious, easy to make, nutritious and satisfying. It is a Mexican recipe based on pork, cooked with spices and orange juice. The meat is cooked very well to get very tender so then makes fibrous, tough, strands. It is usually eaten with tacos seasoned with fresh cilantro and a few drops of lemon.

I have also prepared<i>pico de gallo</i> and <i>guacamole</i> as side for the <strong>carnitas </strong>. This mix works very well, they bring freshness to the meal. We must bear in mind that the meat, when cooked with spices, has a strong, spicy and very aromatic flavor, that's why it's great to balance it with a lighter and fresher side. I have also plated my<i> paleo style tacos</i> using lettuce which reduces the carbs and the calories considerably.

 

 

Carnitas are a Mexican recipe of Creole origin, several states and towns in Mexico dispute their origin, and the recipe varies according to the place, one of the most famous places is Michoacán. Basically we can say that originally the carnitas is seasoned pork well cooked until tender (like <i> pulled pork</i>), in their own fat, in a copper pot, using spices and cilantro. The pork is so well cooked that the meat melts into fibrous but tender strands. It is served this way, as strands, and it is eaten with tacos, usually seasoned with fresh coriander and a few drops of lemon.

Carnitas is a Mexican recipe of Creole origin and you will find several different styles or versions. Michoacan-style carnitas are maybe the best known.

 

I have never traveled to Mexico, so I did not meet them there, it was on one of my first trips to California, a state in which there is a large community of people with Mexican roots, where I tried carnitas for the first time and loved the texture of meat, and its powerful flavor captivated me, so then immediately I was interested in the recipe, I tried it in different restaurants and talked about it with Mexicans residing there. What I realized is the same case like any traditional recipe... in each house there is a different version and each one contributes with their "personal touch" or follows the family tradition, so there are not two equal carnitas.

 

 

A fundamental detail that determines the final result is the choice of meat, in Mexico use different parts of pork to make carnitas, the recipe that I propose is prepared with head of loin, a very juicy pork, you can also use lean or a mixture of the two. I like to use head loin, carnitas are more tender and soft, it is very nice to take them in tacos or a salad, if you prepare the tacos with lettuce leaves, you reduce the calories and carbohydrates of the dish, and You will see how much lighter and easier it is to digest.

 

Avoiding the classic corn tortillas, this carnitas recipe is low in carbs and calories.

 

When cooking, you have several options, you can make them in a traditional pot and cook them for several hours, prepare them in a slow cooker (Instant Pot, Crock Pot), or in a pressure cooker. Another process to achieve an optimal result would be to cook the meat vacuum packed at low temperature for a long period of time, in this way it is possible to retain all the juices and the spices aromatize the meat to the maximum, this method is a little more complicated to do at home, but you can, I'll explain in an entry in my blog about cooking methods. The method that I have followed is the simplest and fastest, and for which you only need to have a pressure cooker.

 

 

There is no doubt, it would be wonderful to have all kinds of utensils at home, all the latest products, the latest releases, the slow cooking pots such as Crock-Pot, the Instant Pot that arrived later and combines the cooking functions slow, pressure cooker, steam cooking, etc., but that is not always possible. The main problem usually is that we do not have enough space to store so much pileup and another problem is that you have to invest a lot of money. If you already have a pressure cooker at home use it to make this dish, if not, you can do it in a regular pot, but it will take much longer. When you have done the stir-fry and you have added the liquids, lower the heat as much as possible, making sure that the stew is still cooking, you may need to add more water or broth since it must cook between an hour and a half and two hours, and the evaporation will be greater.

 

Here you can see the video of the recipe:

 

Summary of the recipe:

To prepare the pork carnitas you only have to sauté well the salted meat and cut into tacos, add some garlic, and then the onion cut in julienne. Cook it for a while and add the spices, the juice of an orange and the half lemon, a cup of water and close the pot. Wait until the rings rise, from there let cook between XNUMX and XNUMX minutes, put out the fire and wait for all the steam to come out, during that time the stew cooks. When you open the pot you will have a tender and aromatic meat that will melt just by touching it. Take it out of the pot and separate the meat into strands with the help of two forks, you already have them.

Serve carnitas in a salad or tacos with lettuce leaves and by guacamole and pico de gallo as sides. They are delicious.

 

 

To prepare the guacamole It is also very simple, crush an avocado with a fork, pour a few drops of lemon or lime and season, add chopped onion, half a tomato cut into pieces, a well chopped chile and fresh coriander, mix and store in the refrigerator until now to serve him

El pico de gallo It is a very simple and refreshing sauce, consisting of chopped tomato, red pepper also chopped, chopped onion, lemon or lime juice and fresh cilantro, seasoned with olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and pepper. Originally it has a chopped chili, but if you do not want it to bite, do not put it on, to your liking.

I hope that you encourage them to prepare them, as you see it is very simple and they are delicious, tell me how they appear in the comments. Health!