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GoodtoKnow
  • 04/07/2025
Here's how to make carnitas, a delicious braised pork, as demonstrated by Elias Silva Resinas, head chef of Mexican restaurant Ella Canta.
Transcript
00:00Hello everyone, my name is Elias, I'm the head chef of Bella Canta, and today I'm going
00:03to show you how to make carnitas.
00:05Carnitas is just braised pork, super delicious.
00:09So we're going to start with the pork carnitas.
00:16To begin cooking the carnitas, we need to melt the fat.
00:21So we're just going to pour the solid fat on a pot.
00:25Don't be intimidated by the amount of fat, it's super tasty and delicious.
00:29If you don't want to use olfa, you can use half fat, half lard, and half oil.
00:35After you have the lard on the pan, we're just going to add half of garlic, just cut it in
00:40half, just put all of it.
00:46Cut an onion, just cut it in four.
00:53We're going to add some bay leaves, about three, and we're going to add ancho chiles.
00:59Ancho chile is a dry chile, it's from Mexico.
01:02This chile is not as spicy, it's just going to give a lot of flavor and smokiness to the
01:07taste of the carnitas.
01:10Next, we're going to add Coca-Cola.
01:15The Coca-Cola is just to give that caramelized flavor.
01:19If you can find Mexican Coca-Cola, that would be better.
01:21Yes, there's a difference between Mexican and European.
01:25Mexicans are made out of actual sugar, canned sugar, so they're going to tend to be more
01:29sweet.
01:30So, we just open one, just pour it over, don't be shy.
01:49So once the lard melts, we're just going to season the meat, just put a little salt on top,
01:57in the bottom, and just place it inside.
02:04Make sure the lard is covering the entire pork.
02:08Once it's done, let's just put the lid on.
02:10So now I'll put it in the oven, 90 degrees Celsius, for about six to eight hours, or until
02:15the meat is tender.
02:16This is the perfect time for you to start making the salsa verde, pico de gallo, and your tortillas.
02:25So once it's ready, and the cooked its meat is nice and tender, I'm just going to pull
02:28it out, just be gentle.
02:31It's going to break, because it's been cooking for six to eight hours.
02:35Just drain it, and just place all the meat on the bowl.
02:40Once it's ready, just shred it.
02:42This is like the most common tacos that we will eat in Mexico on a Sunday for brunch.
02:48We'll get all together as a family, get four or five kilos of meat, and invite all families
02:55from mom to parents, everyone.
02:58We'll get together about like 40 people in the house.
03:02Everyone will make salsa, some of them will make the meat.
03:05Don't be shy shredding the fat, it's going to give a nice flavor to the meat.
03:11So just shred it a little bit.
03:12If the skinny gets a little bit tough, just put it on a cutting bar, chop it, and mix it
03:17with everything.
03:18It's going to give a nice flavor to the meat.
03:20So once it's all shredded, you can just make yourself some tacos with the salsas and everything
03:24ready, or you can mix it with rice, unos frijoles charros, just ready to go.
03:29And with your lard, you can just keep it in the fridge for three to five months, and you
03:32can keep reusing it to make more carnitas.
03:47Music playing.
03:51So glad we got you.
04:01I appreciate you.
04:01I hope you enjoyed this video.
04:02I appreciate you.