|
So I've been doing a lot of carnitas lately due to their amazing flavor and low-cost. Here's the recipe I've been using: Marinade (Mix according to taste): - 1 Orange, juice and zest - Coriander seeds, crushed - Pinch of cilantro - Ground black pepper - Dash of olive oil - Dash of soy sauce - Cumin (to taste) - Diced garlic - Dash of red pepper flakes - Cayenne pepper (to taste) - Salt - Brown sugar (several tablespoons) Dilute with water/chicken broth as needed. Get a dutch oven hot and lightly oil, brown pork shoulder on all sides and then pour marinade 1/3 of the height of the meat. Cook @ 260 in the oven for an hour per pound or so (my wife does this step, check for yourself on the timing). Then remove, allow to rest for 30 mins or so, place on cutting board and cut/pull pork into bite size pieces discarding bones or fatty bits. Lay out evenly on a cookie sheet (protip: grease with bacon fat). Fire up grill and get it hot. Place cookie tray on grill and crisp meats up. Use a cookie tray you don't care about because they like to warp. You can do this in your oven but I'm always paranoid about starting a fire with the amount of heat and grease involved. Once the meats have crispy edges (don't go to far!) you're done with the meat. To finish I like to make tacos with red cabbage; just mix balsamic/red wine vinegar (I can never tell the difference) with brown sugar and salt and then dice red cabbage finely (this is an art) and submerge, stirring every few hours. This seems to peak at 24 hours but can be used pretty much right away. Then get some real corn tortillas from either a Mexican grocer or the import aisle (NOT OLD EL PASO), heat up a pan med/med-high and toss the tortillas on there. They'll stick at first but give them a second and they'll loosen up. Cook until toasty but still flexible. Finally, dice up some fresh onion and cilantro, add to meat with a bit of red cabbage garnish and a shot of tomatillo salsa:  Anybody have some good carnitas pointers? I know the 'proper' way is to cook it on the stovetop allowing the marinade to reduce until dry at which point the meats will crisp up on their own. I've tried this method and can't seem to make it work--I just end up with really tough, dry meat.
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2014 15:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 21:20 |
|
|
revmoo posted:Anybody have some good carnitas pointers? I know the 'proper' way is to cook it on the stovetop allowing the marinade to reduce until dry at which point the meats will crisp up on their own. I've tried this method and can't seem to make it work--I just end up with really tough, dry meat. My exceptionally lazy method of making Carnitas involves chucking the pork in the slow cooker. The crispy texture I add at the end by broiling the now-shredded meat.
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2014 16:49
|
|
|
I like the pickled cabbage idea! For my part, what makes Carnitas Michoacan such a wonderful dish is the textural contrasts between rich, soft, porky interior, and flavorful, crisp exterior that are achieved when you simmer large chunks of pork shoulder in lard, and then fry until golden brown and crispy. Here's how I do it: First, gather your ingredients: Pork shoulder Lard Oranges (optional) Limes 6-8 Tomatillos Onions Garlic Serrano Chiles Bay Leaves (optional) Cilantro Cinnamon (optional)  Yes, lard. I'm not kidding, lard is essential for the success of this dish. Don't be afraid, its quite cheap. The aromatics may be omitted if desired.  Debone the shoulder. If it was sold with the rind on, remove, score, and reserve. Cut the meat into approximately 2 inch cubes. Toss with lime juice and salt and allow to marinate for an hour. Meanwhile, add the lard to a large dutch oven and melt over medium heat. Add the peel of one orange, a handful of bay leaves, and a cinnamon stick.  Add the pork (and rind, if you have one) and cook over gentle heat (you want a few lazy bubbles, no more) until the pork is fork-tender, about 1:30 to 2:00 hours.  Meanwhile, make your salsa.  Boil the tomatillos, serranos, half the onion, and a clove of garlic. You can adjust this recipe to your taste, if you want it hotter, add more serranos. Milder, add less, or split the serranos before boiling and remove the seeds and ribs. Jalapenos may also be used. I like about five serranos for a noticeable, but bearable heat. If you want more garlic or onion, feel free to adjust. If you like, you may also char the vegetables on a comal or skillet or under a broiler instead of boiling if you would like a smokier flavor. Once the vegetables are soft, transfer to a blender or molcajete and process until you have a smooth sauce. Season to taste (tasting frequently) with salt and lime juice. You may also add cilantro, but I will be serving with a mixture of cilantro and onion, so I have not added to my salsa.   Once your pork is tender, crank the heat to high and fry vigorously for 5-10 minutes until crispy and golden. Remove and drain.  If you fried the rind, you should have delicious chicharrones as well as carnitas. Warm some tortillas and enjoy! 
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2014 00:41
|
|
|
Wowee, nice work. I dig the lard-frying method, I'll give that a shot. I've also been wanting to do fresh tomatillo salsa.
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2014 01:26
|
|
|
Thanks! The only down side is dealing with the used lard. I highly recommend making your own salsa. It's super easy if you have a blender or food processor, and the improvement over store bought is incredible. The hardest part is finding good tomatillos or tomatoes. Out of season, canned are still pretty good.
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2014 01:57
|
|
|
This Food Lab post has a great recipe for carnitas that involves tightly packing the pork so you don't need to use extra lard: http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/07/the-food-lab-how-to-make-crisp-and-juicy-carnitas-without-a-bucket-of-lard.html
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2014 04:29
|
|
|
I strongly recommend finding real lard that doesn't have hydrogenated oil in it. Trans fats are bad. My local Mi Pueblo supermarket sells the real deal left over from their home made chicharones so I'm lucky.
|
|
#
?
Jun 23, 2014 04:55
|
|
|
PatMarshall posted:Thanks! The only down side is dealing with the used lard. I highly recommend making your own salsa. It's super easy if you have a blender or food processor, and the improvement over store bought is incredible. The hardest part is finding good tomatillos or tomatoes. Out of season, canned are still pretty good. I made my own salsa based off a recipe I picked up in GWS somewhere. It was great, but wasn't spicy at all and tasted different than most salsas. I recently realized that was because I had a brain fart when reading the pepper labels at my local HEB and picked up poblano peppers instead of serrano  .
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2014 21:13
|
|
|
When Pati (from Pati's Mexican Table on the Create channel) makes them, she doesn't use all that much lard, and she dumps a bunch of condensed milk on top of the meat. She does them on the stove in a big pan. http://www.patismexicantable.com/2013/06/the-chew-pati-jinich-heats-up-the-kitchen-2/ I've been wanting to make them at my parents one weekend but my stepdad goes apeshit if we don't have plain tex-mex tacos (he flipped his lid over chicken fajitas before) and if I do it at my grandmas house my dad will dump tomatoes and peppers in the pot when I'm not looking.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2014 21:29
|
|
|
Bob Morales posted:I've been wanting to make them at my parents one weekend but my stepdad goes apeshit if we don't have plain tex-mex tacos (he flipped his lid over chicken fajitas before) and if I do it at my grandmas house my dad will dump tomatoes and peppers in the pot when I'm not looking. Sever.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2014 22:08
|
|
|
KlavoHunter posted:My exceptionally lazy method of making Carnitas involves chucking the pork in the slow cooker. The crispy texture I add at the end by broiling the now-shredded meat. This is exactly what I do. I make a dry rub out of garlic powder, coriander, cumin and oregano and cover my butt chunks thoroughly before it goes in the slow cooker with chicken broth and bay leaves. Next day, broil that poo poo good. It's a really mild flavor so I'm looking to tweak it but it's still goddamn delicious.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2014 05:24
|
|
|
This recipe plus a shot of tequila and some oregano always works for me and is very low effort.
|
|
#
?
Jul 7, 2014 15:35
|
|
|
PatMarshall posted:Yes, lard. I'm not kidding, lard is essential for the success of this dish. Don't be afraid, its quite cheap. The aromatics may be omitted if desired.   Although, I have been using the seriouseats.com recipe posted earlier in the thread, and it's been producing pretty good carnitas. I still add a little lard during the broiling/frying because I want 'em to crisp up nicely.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2014 02:56
|
|
|
Rub with a little achiote some cumin. Whatever doesn't matter too much. Deep fry a whole leg, shoulders, whatever in lard after it's simmering add a few sticks of cinnamon, some bay leafs wait like 1-2 hours. Taste it see how soft it is if it's almost done add the juice of 2 or 3 oranges then the whole rind. Oh also add some buche to the cazuela. those are the best and the skin. My family owns a carnicerķa and we've had a few Latino stores I haven't been directly in charge of making them but our carnicero and we've done it together a few times. We use a copper pot lit with propane. Apparently the copper is very important and they're not too cheap iirc. You make chicharonnes like that sans so many spices just with pork belly.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2014 08:49
|
|
|
I need to
|
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2014 09:01
|
|
|
PatMarshall posted:Yes, lard. I'm not kidding, lard is essential for the success of this dish. Don't be afraid, its quite cheap. The aromatics may be omitted if desired. I had a bit of an issue with the lard, when it came time to turn the lard up it wasn't frying. It bubbled vigorously even on lower heats, it just didn't fry. I'm assuming my issue was that I marinaded it and too much of it went into the pot with the lard.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2014 12:17
|
|
|
Dump in a bottle of Mexican Coca Cola for +street-cred.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2014 18:55
|
|
|
Catfish Noodlin posted:I had a bit of an issue with the lard, when it came time to turn the lard up it wasn't frying. It bubbled vigorously even on lower heats, it just didn't fry. I'm assuming my issue was that I marinaded it and too much of it went into the pot with the lard. yeah lard doesn't bubble up and crisp like other cooking oils do, you're doing it right. If you can go to your carniceria and get the lard that they pull, it'll be a little brown but taste way better.
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2014 01:25
|
|
|
flesy posted:If you can go to your carniceria and get the lard that they pull, it'll be a little brown but taste way better. And it won't be hydrogenated either.
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2014 02:29
|
|
|
I make them a bit more like Indonesian babi kecap, but once I've made a big batch of it, it goes nicely in burritos too. I simmer them in kecap manis or dark soy sauce and a little brown sugar (along with stock, balsamic vinegar or lime juice, a little black pepper and chilli) until most of the liquid boils off, then shred the meat a little bit, coat in the reduced sauce and turn the heat up for another few minutes while stirring continuously to make them caramelise and burn a little bit on the edges. The sugar in the kecap manis and vinegar caramelises and crisps up the meat. These days I use tinned young green jackfruit instead of pork for a vegetarian version, and it works surprisingly well, the texture is much the same as pulled pork, but the fatty flavour and mouthfeel isn't there. I've been experimenting with smoked paprika in the cooking sauce and adding a few drops of toasted sesame or groundnut oil just before serving - it's still not quite the same but it approximates it fairly well.
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2014 02:00
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 15, 2024 21:20 |
|
|
I've been refining my carnitas method for the last couple years and am pretty happy with it. It's really simple and quick since it involves the pressure cooker and doesn't require deep frying. 1. Cut pork butt into 3" cubes, salt heavily and brown in a skillet over high heat. 2. Put pork in pressure cooker with a coarsely chopped onion, cumin, chili powder, dried oregano and a cinnamon stick. I add about 1/2 cup of orange juice and top the pot off with chicken stock or beer until it reaches halfway up the meat. Bring to full pressure and cook for 40 minutes. 3. Pull out the meat and break into large chunks, removing the bones and large pieces of fat. It should fall apart pretty easily but still have a little bit of structure. Strain the cooking liquid and reserve half. 4. Add about 1/4 cup of orange juice to the reserved cooking liquid and reduce over medium heat until it thickens up into a glaze. Adjust seasoning and add black pepper. Toss the glaze with the pork and then arrange in a thin layer on a sheet pan and broil on high, turning every few minutes. It usually takes about 15 minutes until the meat is nice and crisp. During the turning process little stands of meat will break off and become super crunchy, which is my favorite part.
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2014 02:37
|
|
