Carnitas Tacos (YouTube vs Reality)
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- Опубліковано 6 чер 2024
- Carnitas Tacos (UA-cam vs Reality)
00:00 Intro
00:52 Carnitas
02:30 Tortillas, Guacamole, Salsa
06:50 Final Assembly
Carnitas: • The Best Way to Cook P...
Corn Tortillas: • Corn Tortillas (Perfec...
Salsa Verde:
12 oz (340g) tomatillos, husks removed
1/3 cup diced white onion (or to taste)
1 garlic close, sliced
Handful of cilantro, chopped
Jalapeño, sliced (to taste -- it will be spicier with the seeds)
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp sugar
Put tomatillos on a foil lined metal baking sheet and broil on both sides until slightly burnt, 5-8 minutes per side. Cool, and peel off really burnt skin, but keep the skin that’s brown.
Combine with all the other ingredients and puree.
Guacamole:
1/4 cup diced white onion (or to taste)
Handful of cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp lime juice (or to taste)
3 avocados
Salt to taste
1/4 cup salsa verde (from the above recipe)
Puree everything until creamy (I prefer it not perfectly smooth).
The skillets for the final assembly need to be non-stick. Teflon is most reliable, but well seasoned cast-iron or carbon steel work too. The bigger the skillets the faster and easier it will go. I prefer two 12 inch skillets. Crisp up the pork and remove to a plate. Crisp up the tortillas in pork fat. Top with guacamole, pork, salsa, diced white onions and cilantro.
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Excellent recipe, just wanted to add: Carnitas are not usually cooked as a dinner plate. You buy a kilo from a stand, you buy tacos from a taquería, or you make it for huge gatherings like weddings and birthdays. Like a lot of Mexican dishes it's optimised to make in bulk; a recipe for 12kg and a recipe for half a pound will take pretty much the same time to prepare minus time on the flame. It's recommended that you prepare 8 to 12lbs at a time, divide it up in ziploc bags, and freeze what you're not going to use immediately for later use; it's easily reheated and can be kept indefinitely. This is why a lot of people complain with recipes like Adam Ragusea's mole; they misunderstand the core design of the dish, and instead of respecting the recipe's intent they Martha Steward the taste out of it. American family dinners are made for 4 portions; Mexican dinners are made for 10-20 because families are bigger, closer, and because a lot of them are streamlined for multiple purposes. For example, if i'm cooking carnitas at home I'm planning to have tacos for dinner, quesadillas for breakfast, tortas for the next day's school lunch, and I'll freeze a good chunk for a rainy day. If you don't consider the home economics behind it, either your recipe will be too much work for too little reward, or you'll sacrifice the core of the dish and end up with something mediocre and saccharine. This is the first time I see anyone address this and it seems to be a common issue of American youtube cooking ethnic food in general; it would be game-changing if you could talk more about this in the future. Thank you for cooking with respect.
excellent points
Completely agree. If I am making carnitas, I ask as much as can fit into my dutch oven :)
Ethan Chlebowski and Kenji both have covered how to repurpose carnitas leftovers into other great dishes such as stir fry, pasta, sliders, etc.
….and your point is?
"Martha Stewart" the taste out of it is completely unnecessary.
I love the fact that your channel has always been about teaching real skills in the kitchen and not just surface level good looking food for click bait. Thanks Helen!
Helen, I already made the corn tortillas from your last video literally the same night that you posted the video, I was so excited. I had tried corn tortillas dozens of times before, and I was never able to get it. Your method was absolutely fool-proof, I ended up tripling your recipe and made almost 50 tortillas for a party of 10 people, and they were a major hit. Thank you!!!
Wow -- 50 tortillas on your first try! So proud of you :)
👏👏👏👏🥇🥇
Wow what was your topping ?
Excellent video. I have a few suggestions/notes.
1. I don't personally use avocado in my salsa verde, neither did my family growing up. I'm sure it tastes great, but if you only have unripe avocados or want to cut the cost know that avocados are not typically added to salsa verde. 2lbs tomatillos (roasted in oven), 2 cloves garlic (roasted in oven carefully), 1-2 jalepenos (roasted in the oven), 1 bunch of cilantro, and 1/2 large white onion. All blended together, salted to taste...can add fresh lime juice if that's your thing, but I find a little salt is all that's needed. Can be served as is for a raw sauce or cooked in a little oil for a cooked one.
2. Tacos are a choose your own adventure meal. For larger gatherings you would cook all of the ingredients and then cook the tortillas and throw them in a tortilla holder with some paper towels. They steam themselves which keeps them pliable and warm for a good amount of time. Lay everything out on the table and pass everything around to make your tacos.
Thank you for sharing your salsa verde recipe. What is your point about the avocado? Helen did not use it in her salsa verde, but vice versa.
Hey! That parentheses is because of me! I appreciate that, Helen. Truly an honor
Thank uou for talking about the logistics of carnitas! My husband is from Mexico, and we're a family of 4... And Mexican cooking is daunting to me 😮😅
What an excellent video. Well shot, clearly explained with practical anecdotes and a nice low-stress vibe. Also I love that you took the time to test things and see if things like salting early actually mattered or were just "common sense". Much respect!
Best taco assembly video. Thank you!
Looks absolutely marvelous, thanks for sharing 🌻
As you said it's not a quick dish, but it's well worth the effort and your tips on keeping that manageable are great.
Nice recipe, no nonsense and to the point.
Thanks.
Excellent.
Thank you for sharing this.
Good luck.
I love your voice. You are such a happy person it makes your videos all that much more better.
Excellent teaching video!
I'm so excited to make these, tortillas and all!
Thank you, Helen
You always make the most amazing videos! They're a series and I look forward to each one, like Dickens subscribers might have done!
I should add that since being a subscriber, I've made so many terrific dishes and learned so many new things! Sometimes, it's even the things like the Cuisinart pan you suggested - it's found its way into my cooking so often that I'm giving our daughter many of the useless pans we got from a set from All-Clad. She can use the pans and we can use the space!
My best to you and your family.
Rowland
Perfect timing!! I just made your pork confit last weekend & I have quite a bit left over!! Tacos are excellent for the World series!! 😃
Thank you so kindly, ow the mighty Chef!!
Helen your version of tacos looks delicious. Taco is a structure and because of that there are endless taco recipes. Tacos are part I’d my DNA and when we are from taco land, we really appreciate a good one. Felicidades
I didn't realize how important logistics were until I really tried to make this and a few other things for some friends recently. Thanks for this!
Thought I would share my experience with de-seeding avocados. I do not use the tip of the knife, but I quickly hit the seed with the cutting edge of my knife to embed the blade into the seed. Then, I can slightly turn the knife to remove it from the flesh of the avocado. Now that the seed is on the blade, I can easily scrape the blade against my waist pail or trash bin to get the seed off. I've done it this way for years, and I can process avocados without having to put my knife down at all. I don't have issues with releasing the seed. It doesn't take much to get a good grip on the seed. Your mileage may vary, but this has worked well for me.
Great tips!
First! This looks so good already!
Thank you Helen for great video.
Would you please 🙏 consider doing a video on Butter Chicken just like the genuine Indian takeaway version.
A favourite with everyone also naan bread. Maybe curry paste also 👍
There are plenty of sauces on the market but nothing tastes like home made. In advance, Thank you 😄
Avocado pit: I put my thumb and index fingers over the top (back) of the blade, and just squeeze the blade just up against the top of the pit with my thumb and curled up index finger. When you squeeze it pushed the pit off. It shoots right off, not really even a chance of cutting yourself . Trying to pull it off is a bad idea.
You mentioned the pork video is in the description below however I don’t see it there. Could you please share it? Thank you kindly I’m excited to try it
Absolutely delicious! I love to put guacamole in everything and of course I would add hot sauce or chopped hot chilies. Other people can add whatever they like. That’s the beauty of tacos. You make them your own. In my house we’re constantly “inventing” new varieties of tacos because we put any leftovers, fry this, chop that, and voilà (órale!) a new taco is born! They’re part of how a family comes together! Sometimes you seat at the table and sometimes you eat while dancing! I love Helen’s tacos and how she serves them in a beautiful dish for her family. You can definitely feel the love! Now I’m thinking, what drinks did you prepare for such a delicious dinner with your family? I would make Rosa de Jamaica! (At least for the kids!) Thank you for this wonderful video!
So true about the knife and pit !😂
Great tips on cooking the tortillas, Helen! We agree that the Bob's Red Mill Masa Harina is so superior in flavor and texture that it is like technicolour v black-and-white. большой спасибо!
I was happy to see that she warmed up the tortillas on the rendered fat. That is how they're done in Mexico, and it's something a lot of taco shops in the USA miss on. It's day and night, so much more flavorful.
@@DJWoody714 So true--I keep fat from carnitas in my freezer to use for cooking tortillas, so it is hard to go to US-Mex restaurants. I learned a lot from reading and watching Diane Kennedy and Jauja's channel.
Yes, tacos is a lot of work, and apart from meat everything needs to be made “last minute”, glad that someone is addressing it. We each assemble our own.
This is related to another video Helen, but can I make the rillettes if I have refrigerated the pork? I know in your video it says to make right away. Thanks!
A sheet pan under the broiler is an easy single-pan way to crisp your carnitas.
0:01 carrrrnitas
Ms. Rennie rolling her r's is almost asmr to me 🇬🇹🇬🇹
Hi Helen, I lived for 65 years just north of Boston. My family lived there for generations after coming from Italy. I knew I liked your videos the first time I watched you and even if we weren't neighbours. Are you related to Michael Rennie? I don't think anyone remembers him today. A real polyglot, yes the singular of ravioli is raviolo.
I think it depends on the way you make guacamole on when it's best served. The recipe I use has to sit at LEAST 4 hours and I find it better if it sits most of a day, so make it in the evening the day before using it works best. The way I make it, it will last a week in the fridge, probably because I go heavy on lime and that along with the salt cooks and preserves it. I don't get browning on it until after 3 - 4 days.
Other difference is I'm using plum tomato.
you have the best voice. make more videos of you just talking
On the note of acidic foods and seasoning, I find it really hard to taste for seasoning when it comes to those things, as I find theres a point where the zing of saltiness and the zing of acidity intertwine and it become hard to tell whether the food is oversalted or needs more? Do you have any tips for mediating this?
A tip I've seen Helen give is to take out a bit into a bowl and try to season that. Mistakes won't mean the whole dish is ruined, and you can learn as you go
Onion - I would also do what Rick Bayless does. If your eyes water badly when chopping, or the onion has a strong odor, put it in a strainer and rinse it to make it milder.
You can also supplement with a fatty pork belly which I would heavily score.
You’re missing out if you’re not using a Mexican Coke, oranges (w/ peels), and evaporated milk in your Carnitas.
I was about to post this! That's how they're done in Mexico, at least where I'm from.
@@DJWoody714 - They make all the difference! Also, fry the pork in lard!
Would you care to do an investigation on "remove the seeds of the pepper" lore?
In my experience, the white part and seeds are tasteless - the rest of the pepper is equally hot all over (i.e. all the red parts in a red chilli pepper).
Perhaps this is something predominantly with peppers found on the American continents. (Jalapenos, Habaneros, ...)
I have two questions and one comment:
Question 1: can I use your recipe for carnitas in a slow cooker?
Comment: you don’t need to make the salsa verde on the same day. I usually make my salsa verde in big batches, separate in 1 liter containers, freeze some and keep one in the fridge for the week. It’s a delicious salsa that goes well with so many things!
Question 2: why did you add sugar to the salsa verde? Salsa verde is meant to be tart and even spicy. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone else add sugar to it. This is something that I commonly see with chefs from the US and a few other countries.
Tacos are never enough i can always eat more, I moved to Europe and they are no longer that accessible. Once I get a bigger kitchen I'm trying this :).
I will start off saying that there aren't really any rules for tacos - what you like as fillings doesn't make it 'wrong'. Where I live in México, guacamole isn't a condiment. We have an avocado salsa (it's like salsa verde with avocado), and sliced avocado are used as a topping. Guacamole is something served with chips as an appetizer. I will also say that using EVOO would impart a very strange flavor to the carnitas - many USA groceries and Méxican groceries in the USA have rendered pork fat for sale (not processed, like crisco) - this is your best bet. If you enjoy carnitas, you should try a torta ahogada. Originally from the state of Jalisco, and very popular in Guadalajara. They're very tasty and filling, and in México they're very economical as well. Thanks for the video!
I need Helen to take on traditional Chinese and/or Indian cuisine
please no
من اصل را حدس زدم؟
It’s a real shame how difficult it is to buy avocados these days. I buy them green and ripen them on my counter but by the time they ripen, they’re all full of mushy brown spots Too many zombies at the grocery stores squeezing them. I see it all the time. What kind of idiot thinks you need to squeeze an avocado……a GREEN AVOCADO??
Но если в тебе есть хоть немного русской крови, я люблю тебя еще больше.
I recomend not to make the tacos yourself, you just make the elements (the prepared meat, sauce, chopped onion with cilantro, etc) put them in separated containers, heat the tortillas and put them in a rag or frabric to mantain them hot and moist, and let your family assemble their own tacos at dinner or launch, this not only will give you more time to make another things in the kitchen and mantain the ingredients hot and fresh for longer but also will give a nice activity to do for your kids, more interactions beeteen your family since you will be passing the containers between you all asking yourselves things or making fun of your choices, freedom of choice to everyone for their tacos, some will like more or less meat, more or less onions, etc, it will a lot easier to save the food for the next meal, and more important forcing your family to do things together is the mexican way
She’s a professional chef so I think she serves all her food how you would get it at a restaurant. That’s also why she makes everything from scratch. She has a lot of experience and is well traveled so I’m sure she knows the authentic way tacos are usually served at home. Just saying I understand people mean well giving advice, but don’t underestimate who this woman is
@@Kramer3410 I didn't write that comment for her, I wrote it for the people watching this video
To tell you the truth, I've never been to Mexico and I have no idea if my tacos are authentic. Probably not. I just had a lot of very tasty tacos in the US and I was trying to replicate how they taste in a good taqueria in the US :)
@@helenrennie Oh, I have no comments about your recipe, is very nice including your tortillas and your guacamole, in fact I'll add some baked greed tomatoes to my guacamole next time :) , my comment was just about the logistics of dinner time and serving the food, and was only a recommendation, you know what's better for you and your family
I completely agree with your suggestion. Both ways to serve the carnitas are correct!
But serving the carnitas family style, where everyone assemble their own tacos promotes interaction and bonding.
Helen you did an amazing job like always , Congratulations !
Suggestions:
If you are using the tortillas the same day , keep them warm in a kitchen towel, make them as close to the diner time as possible.(home made tortillas are amazing freshly made, great the same day and good the next day ). If you are going to use them another day, cool them separately and store them in a sip lock bag .
Same thing goes for the carnitas, if possible eat the freshly made carnitas out of the Dutch oven, the meat is moist and succulent ! ( restaurants specialized in carnitas in Mexico, have their carnitas ready just in for lunch time).
Tomatillos tend to be acidic when green and sweet when well cooked, find the balance you like.
HELEN, YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL AND YOU TALK SO BEAUTIFULLY IT IS A PLEASURE TO LISTEN TO YOU. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF ALL IS THAT CLEAR ACCENT YOU HAVE. WHERE'S HE FROM ?
odd to see Helen making mexican fare
I love your take on this, they look delicious... but let's be clear, these are American Carnitas Tacos not Mexican (Al pastor) Tacos. Also, no one in in their right mind in Mexico would put guacamole in their tacos.
So true!
as long as they're delicious, it does not matter if they're American or Mexican )
I agree - but thankfully, unlike ATK, she didn't say they were 'authentic' and then come up with a dozen substitutions! I always wish content creators would say 'MY Carnitas Tacos' or similar.
I'm Mexican and where I'm from, it's very common to put guacamole on tacos. Sure, some people use sliced avocado, others use avocado salsa (extremely common because it's cheap), and off course guac. There's different kinds of guac, the one that's commonly used in tacos is just pure smashed avocado.
Al pastor and carnitas are two different pork dishes that taste completely different.
Who like me, absolutely cant srand coriander? I can smell it " from a mile off" and can taste it even if its fresh and been picked off a dish. It has a taste I cant describe but have ndver eaten soap so if thats the taste???
I'm told that's genetic - some people can smell the ester which produces that soapy smell and others can't.
Just buy the tortillas at the store like any respectable Mexican;)
None of my neighbors make their own - they all buy from the corner tortillería (as do I). Are they as good? No. But for 26 pesos a kilo and no work, we suffer the loss :) LoL.
@@bjones9942 100%, one less worry. Definitely not as good but it’ll do
i've had Mexican tacos before. everyone gushes about how American tacos aren't REAL tacos. so REAL tacos are meat, cilantro, salsa all on a sloppy, soaking wet with oil tortilla. They're gross. why even add the sloppy tortilla? it just tastes like i'm eating dough.
There are dozens of types of tacos and everyone has their own interpretation on those. If you had a greasy sloppy taco one place, you shouldn't discount all tacos. Give Netflix's 'Taco Chronicles' a view and see a little of what you're missing.
I agree on the tortilla tasting uncooked/like dough. I prefer to fry mine to my desired crispness in about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of oil in a small pan. One tortilla at a time -- holding one half at a time in the pan. This was taught to me by a Mexican neighbor when I was a teenager back in the early '70's.
Also, guacamole isn't supposed to be like baby food. I like much fewer ingredients(and so much other junk) and a little chunky. Taught to me by a coworker of Mexican descent who was taught by her grandmother.