Tacos with Beer-braised Carnitas Filling

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Another day, another different carnitas method.

Once, the pork butt was kept whole in a very wet braise with a whole bunch of herbs and spices, including chocolate, then shredded and baked with milk in the oven;

Once, the pork butt was started like above (but with a more orange-y braise), then forwent the baking with milk, but rather, was sautéed until crispy, then shredded;

Once, the pork butt was cut into small-ish cubes and then simmered in a little liquid until all evaporated and the chunks are browned in their own fat.

I can't say which is my favourite. I think I was still deciding how to do the carnitas when I started chopping them up into large-ish cubes.

I wasn't going to do carnitas for our recent taco night, but I figure I might as well, since I had three pieces of pork butt waiting for me in the fridge. I bought six pieces (approximately 2 pounds per piece) and I had used up half of it for my al pastor. It was already 2:30 in the afternoon and people were coming at 6:30 -- I looked at the large-ish cubes and decided that they can be smaller to speed up the cooking process.

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I put the pieces in a pot, dumped a bottle a beer, and covered them with water.

The beer was a spur of the moment decision, given that we had a lone bottle of beer that was taking up valuable fridge real estate and I wanted to get rid of it. I'm not a beer drinker and I don't even know if I like beer, but there it was. As soon as I did it, though, I started to regret my rash, capricious act. When the pot started to boil, I smelled the beer and I started to get very, very afraid.

Feeling unsure now, I kept it simple with the aromatics and spices. I added an onion, some dried epazote, salt and pepper. When the pieces were tender but not falling apart, I tasted one, and while it was okay, passable, I felt the flavour wasn't where I would like it to be. It wasn't ALL that it can be.


before and after

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I started scooping the pieces out of their bath and put them in another pan. Going by smell, I figured the whole thing needed celery. I chopped up a couple of stalks and put them with the pork. I added more salt and dried thyme. I poured about 2 cups of milk into the pan and put the pan on the grill to continue cooking. I could have used the oven but the grill was already on and I didn't want to turn on the oven.

The pork pieces started to brown and get crispy, the milk added a lot of richness to the pork, and the dried thyme added depth. I pulled the pan out of the grill a little too late (some of the pieces were over-brown) because I got distracted by other stuff.



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So, as you can see, even though we had tacos al pastor, we still had the carnitas. It is a family favourite and I knew people were going to be asking me if we had any carnitas for this night. I preempted the question and just made it with the extra pork butt we had.

And it's a good thing I made the carnitas because they were SOLD OUT. As expected, people went for the carnitas more than they did the al pastor. It is that brown crispy allure of the carnitas: too good to resist!

[eatingclub] vancouver Tacos
Tacos... then
Tacos... now
Tacos of Carnitas with Pineapple, with Roasted Salsa and Sweet Potato
Tacos... again (July 2009)
Tacos al Pastor with Chipotle Peanut Salsa
Tacos with Beer-braised Carnitas Filling
Shredded Beef and Tripe Tacos

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[eatingclub] vancouver Mexican
Tacos... then
Tacos... now
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Semi-Lime-cooked, Semi-Yucatecan Shrimp with Garlic Chips
Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese with Pipían Verde
Quickie Turkey Tortilla Soup
Tacos of Carnitas with Pineapple, with Roasted Salsa and Sweet Potato
Shrimp a la Mexicana (Camarones a la Plancha)
Enchiladas Verdes
Cilantro Horchata
Strawberry Cilantro Salsa, on Grilled Flank Steak
Mexican Ancho Guajillo Chicken
Chipotle Ground Turkey on Flour Tortilla
Tacos... again (July 2009)
Tacos al Pastor with Chipotle Peanut Salsa
Tacos with Beer-braised Carnitas Filling
Shredded Beef and Tripe Tacos
Duck Enchiladas with Chipotle Peanut Salsa
Blueberry Tres Leches Cake
Crab Tostada
Homemade Mexican Chorizo Sausage
Torta (Mexican Sandwich)