Carnitas Soft Tacos

Kathy — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:57:31 +0000

I always get the carnitas.

Mexican food is the cornerstone of local cuisine in San Diego, where I live. My husband and I have our favorite restaurants and taquerias but whenever we branch out to try a new place I always order the carnitas as a sort of benchmark of how good the food is. It’s a simple dish – succulent braised pork shoulder, served with warm tortillas and a host of fresh accompaniments such as sour cream, tomatoes, salsa and cilantro. Any guilt I may feel over the less-than-healthful manner in which carnitas are traditionally prepared (i.e., in lard) disappears immediately after I wrap them up soft taco-style with “the works” and take a big bite.

I found this recipe for a somewhat healthier version of carnitas on a package of pork shoulder. It calls for braising the pork with onions, garlic and green chiles in chicken broth. While you give up the crispy strands that slow-cooking in lard yields, you still get very moist, flavorful chunks of pork that taste wonderful in a soft taco.

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It’s the recipe collection I didn’t even realize I had – the one derived from the side of a bag of fresh vegetables, a box of sugar, a jar of mayonnaise. Cooking On the Side – as in on the side of food packaging – is all about “revealing” these on-the-package recipes, with photos of how they actually turn out, cooking notes and more descriptive directions than package space usually allows for. -- Kathy

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Carnitas Soft Tacos