Apaseo el Grande Carnitas (Carnitas Estilo Apaseo)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide copper cazo or heavy 7-quart Dutch oven
• •Clay or cast iron comal for the final crisp and tortillas
• •Slotted spoon or kitchen spider
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan
• •Molcajete or blender for the salsa
• •Barro platter from Apaseo el Alto or Guanajuato ceramic serving plate

Instructions

1. 1

   Salt the pork

   Put the pork shoulder, pork belly, and cueritos in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the salt and turn every piece with your hands so the salt reaches the meat, fat, and skin. Let it sit 45 minutes at room temperature while you set up the cazo. Overnight in the refrigerator is better for a celebration, but bring the meat back toward room temperature before cooking. Cold pork dropped into hot fat tightens before it has a chance to cook properly.

   Do not let the butcher trim the fat or remove the skin. The fat is not waste. The skin gives you the chewy-crisp pieces people fight over at the table.
2. 2

   Melt the manteca

   Set a copper cazo or a heavy 7-quart Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the manteca de cerdo and the water. Let the lard melt gently. The water sits under the fat and keeps the first stage of cooking steady, then it cooks away. You want warm fat, not an angry fry. La manteca es el sabor, and vegetable oil has no place in this pot.

3. 3

   Start the confit

   Lower the salted pork pieces into the warm lard, skin side down when you can. The fat should come at least halfway up the meat. If it does not, add more manteca. Squeeze the orange halves over the pot and drop the spent halves in. Keep the heat at a slow, steady bubble for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, turning the pork every 20 minutes. The meat should go from pink to pale gold and the skin should begin to soften. Do not boil it hard. This is carnitas, not a punishment.

4. 4

   Add the leche

   When the pork is tender enough for a fork to enter with little resistance but still holds its shape, remove and discard the orange halves. Lower the heat. Pour the milk slowly down the side of the pot, keeping your face and hands back because the lard will bubble sharply. Cook 35 to 45 minutes more, turning the pieces gently. The milk will break into tiny solids that brown in the fat and help build those deep amber edges. Too much milk makes the pot taste sweet and heavy. A splash is enough. Así se hace y punto.

   If the bubbling gets violent, pull the pot off the heat for one minute, then return it lower. Hot fat and liquid need respect. No me vengas con atajos.
5. 5

   Brown in the lard

   Raise the heat to medium. Cook 20 to 30 minutes more, moving the pork only enough to keep it from sticking. Listen for the sound changing from wet bubbling to a cleaner frying crackle. The shoulder should have mahogany edges, the belly should look glossy and browned, and the cueritos should be tender with crisp spots. Pull the meat out before it dries. Carnitas should tear, not crumble.

6. 6

   Make the salsa

   While the carnitas rest, heat a dry comal over medium. Roast the tomatillos and chile serrano until the tomatillos turn olive green with charred spots and the serranos blister. Crush the garlic and salt in a molcajete, then add the serranos, tomatillos, and cilantro and work it into a rough salsa. A blender is acceptable if you pulse, not puree. This salsa should taste bright and sharp enough to cut through pork fat.

7. 7

   Crisp on comal

   Lift the carnitas from the lard with a slotted spoon and drain them on a rack. Strain the lard and save it. Heat a clay or cast iron comal until a tortilla puffs on contact. Tear the pork into rough serving pieces, spoon a little of the cooking lard onto the comal, and press the cut sides of the meat down for 2 to 3 minutes until the edges crisp. This final comal finish is the Apaseo register. It is not Quiroga. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

8. 8

   Serve Bajio style

   Pile the carnitas onto a warm barro platter from Apaseo el Alto or a Guanajuato ceramic plate. Put the corn tortillas in a cloth-lined chiquihuite. Set out the salsa de tomatillo y chile serrano, raw white onion, cilantro, and lime wedges. Build each taco with meat first, then salsa, then onion and cilantro. Corn tortillas belong here. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy fresh manteca de cerdo from a carniceria, not a shelf-stable brick that smells like nothing. If the lard has no pork aroma, it has no work to do in this recipe.
• •Use pork shoulder with skin and some belly or cueritos. Lean pork makes dry carnitas. The Apaseo pot needs fat, skin, and collagen so the meat cooks slowly before it browns.
• •The orange should smell like orange before you cut it. If the fruit is dry or dull, use a better one. More bad orange does not make better carnitas.
• •Do not add cola because you saw it in a Michoacan recipe. That is another state's register. This one belongs to Guanajuato.
• •Save the strained lard. It will keep refrigerated for months and it is gold for beans, eggs, sopes, and the next pot of carnitas. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.

Advance Preparation

• •Salt the pork up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerate it uncovered. This gives the meat better seasoning and helps the skin brown.
• •Carnitas can be cooked through the lard-browning stage one day ahead. Store the meat covered with some strained cooking lard, then crisp it on the comal just before serving.
• •The salsa is best the day it is made. If you must make it ahead, roast and blend it up to 8 hours before serving and stir in the cilantro at the end so it stays bright.
• •Rendered lard from this batch can be strained, refrigerated, and reused for beans, gorditas, or another carnitas pot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 335g)