Cooking in
British Columbia
Mexican
Carnitas Caseras (Home-Cooked Carnitas)
A State of Mexico household version of carnitas — slow-fried pork cubes cooked first in lard with aromatics, then finished with orange, milk, and dried herbs until the braising liquid cooks off and the meat crisps in its own rendered fat. The result is tender, golden, slightly citrus-scented pork with crackling edges. Diana Kennedy presents this as the domestic counterpart to the large-batch carnitas made in copper cauldrons at market stalls, achievable in a standard home pan without specialist equipment.
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Cook
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
4 tablespoons
lard
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
country-style spareribs and boneless stewing pork, cut into 2-inch (5 cm) cubes
3 lb (1.36 kg) pork
Your own market
½ medium
white onion, roughly sliced
Your own market
4 sprigs
fresh marjoram, or scant ¼ teaspoon dried
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
4 sprigs
fresh thyme, or scant ¼ teaspoon dried
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
3
California bay leaves (Umbellularia californica), broken up
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
10
peppercorns, crushed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
orange, cut into eighths
Your own market
1 cup (240 ml)
whole milk
Your own market
Sea salt, to taste
Your own market
II
The Method
1
BROWN THE PORK. Melt lard in a wide, heavy pan over medium-high heat. Working in batches if needed, add pork cubes and brown until golden on all sides. Do not crowd the pan.
2
ADD ONION. Return all pork to the pan, add the sliced onion, and continue cooking until the onion softens and takes some colour.
3
BRAISE COVERED. Add marjoram, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, orange pieces, milk, and salt to taste. Stir briefly, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook until the pork is just tender, approximately 20 minutes. The meat should yield to a knife tip but hold its shape.
4
FINAL FRYING. Remove the lid and raise the heat to medium-high. Stir and turn the pork as the liquid reduces and eventually evaporates entirely. The pork will fry in the remaining fat — allow the pieces to develop a crisp exterior, turning to colour all sides.
5
DRAIN AND SERVE. Tip the pan and spoon off excess fat. Remove orange pieces and any large herb stems. Serve immediately with warm tortillas, salsa, and fresh garnishes.
III
Sensory Tests
◇At the critical reduction point, press a cube of pork against the pan with a spoon: it should sizzle audibly in the remaining fat and release cleanly without tearing — if it sticks and shreds, the braising liquid has not fully cooked off and the fat has not yet taken over as the cooking medium.
◇Bite through a finished piece at its thickest point: the exterior should give a faint crackling resistance for two or three millimetres before yielding to interior meat that pulls apart along muscle fibres without being dry or cottony — juice should appear at the cut surface, not pool beneath the piece on the plate.
◇Smell the pan in the final five minutes: the orange scent should be warm and faintly caramelised, not raw or sharp — if it smells predominantly of raw citrus the liquid has not reduced sufficiently and the fruit sugars have not had time to concentrate against the hot lard.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies in the transition from braising to crisping — the moment the last of the orange-milk liquid evaporates and the pork begins to fry in its own rendered lard. Pull it too early and the edges stay pale and soft; let distraction take over past that point and the same fat that creates the crust burns it.
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V
What to Pour
The pairing
Beer
From British Columbia
Beer lager
Without alcohol
Non-alcoholic
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The whole pairingPillar VI
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The working kitchen