Everything that you need to know about Torta de carnitas.

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Torta de carnitas, Salsa was one of the things that set this sandwich apart. In addition to traditional pickled jalapenos and carrots, local sandwich vendors always had their own bottled salsa on hand. If you don’t want to make your own red-hot bottled sauce, you can also use a store-bought red sauce, which you can find the recipe for here. The sandwich takes on an entirely new flavour profile when adding this ingredient. Tacos are the most popular street food in Mexico, followed by tortas. Most schools don’t have cafeterias, so children bring their lunches to school.

Torta de Carnitas de Porco – Step-by-Step Instructions

French or Italian bread can be substituted as an alternative. My local Sprouts grocery store provided the bread for these images.

Medium-high heat on a grill. To warm the rolls, place them on their side when they are hot. It should only take a minute or two.

On one side of each roll, spread mayonnaise, and on the other, beans.

Divide the carnitas between the rolls’ two bottom edges. Shred the cabbage, tomato, and onion and place them on top of the meat. Finally, top the sandwiches with slices of bread.

Place the Torta de carnitas on the hot grill once more, being careful not to let the tops fall off, and cook them in butter or oil if you desire a crispy crust. Serve with a hot bottled sauce or pickled carrots as a garnish. I’m pinning many delicious recipes for you on Pinterest, so check them out!

In June, I was put to the ultimate test of my ability to drink and socialize.  My body and wedding dress hate me after having had more beer than I’ve had since college. It’s been a wonderful experience, filled with meaningful conversations, laughter, and long nights outside in the June sunshine.

It was a whirlwind at the reunion. Because Trevor and I attended Andover, our get-togethers tend to drag on for days. The night of Friday was a little awkward, with a lot of “hello! Conversations and from Sam’s car bar. On the other hand, everyone had returned to their old social circles by Saturday.

On the outskirts of campus, we played flip-cup and slosh-ball on an old soccer field and hung out all day. We ended up eating and dancing until 3 a.m. on the lawn before stumbling home. I’m amazed at our stamina – 28 and still going strong – since we haven’t had much recent practice for such a long event.

We realized that we needed a little extra lubrication while driving back to our parent’s house on Sunday morning after a long weekend. Grease and HBO Tenoch is one of only three or four good restaurants within easy walking distance of where we live. Griddled Mexican sandwiches, known as tortas in Mexico, are made to order at Tenoch, a small fast-food joint in downtown Los Angeles.

With slow-cooked meat, spicy sauce, avocados, pico de gallo or pickled onions, and queso fresco melted over the top of the bun (telera), the Torta de carnitas is one of the most popular Mexican dishes. Essentially, it’s a taco with more filling and carbs than a regular taco.

Every time I go there, I always get the torta de carnitas, loaded with shredded pulled pork. After that, I sank into a deep slumber and binged on Silicon Valley. It was truly awe-inspiring. In a rare instance of foresight, I decided to make this sandwich at home while feeling particularly sluggish.

During the following weekend, I whipped up a massive pot of carnitas, baked some homemade telera buns, and made some quick guac. Just like the Tenoch version, the Torta de carnitas were excellent. In addition, we had a lot of food to spare. It was a massive help as I prepared for the second round of drinking week at my offsite.

Tacos, Tortas, and Tamales is a great little cookbook that provided the carnitas recipe I used. Easy to make, with a lot of flavours. Let us know if you decide to go all-in on Torta de carnitas! Do you think it’s good? Follow Katie at the Kitchen Door on social media by subscribing to her feed in the box to the right, using Feedly or Bloglovin, or liking her page on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. The pleasure was all mine.

Dish of shredded beef

From Tenoch (amazing sandwiches!) and a great little book on Mexican street cooking, I adapted this recipe for carnitas, which is a great way to taste Mexican street food.

  •         At the Kitchen Door’s author is Katie.
  •         Count: Five
  •         Mexican food

ingredients

  •         Peeled eight garlic cloves
  •         Chopped into quarters, a medium white onion.
  •         One Tablespoon of fresh thyme stems
  •         Dried oregano, 2 tbsp
  •         3-teaspoon salt, preferably kosher,
  •         Two
  •         bay leaves that have been dried
  •         It’s about 3/4 cup of coke

For the tortas, here are the instructions:

  •         Three store-bought telera rolls; 2 homemade telera rolls
  •         2 Tablespoons of lukewarm butter
  •         Prepared carnitas weighing 3 lbs
  •         can of refried black beans, 15 ounces
  •         1 oz. of hot pico de gallo
  •         2-cups ready-to-eat guacamole

instructions

Place the pork, bay leaves, and the garlic-onion mixture in a large Dutch oven or oven-safe pot with a lid. Toss the mixture a few times with tongs to ensure that everything is well-coated.

After 2 to 2 1/2 hours of cooking, the pork should fall apart when you press it with a fork. Remove the cover and continue cooking until the meat is tender and falls off the bone. Pork should be stirred with tongs, and a few pieces should be above the liquid level. Repeat the process once more, browning the pork for 15 minutes on top of the liquid.

Use tongs to transfer the pork to a glass bowl or other storage container after it has been browned. Remove and discard the pan’s remaining fat and juices after it solidified. Shred the pork with a fork into small pieces.

For the tortas, here are the instructions:

To use a hamburger bun, cut the telera rolls in half. Each half should be lightly buttered on the outside. Toast the telera halves, butter side down, in a large frying pan over medium heat until they are golden brown.

Shredded carnitas should be added to the frying pan in a single layer after the buns have been toasted (you will likely need to do this in batches). Stir as you cook the pork until it’s browned and crispy on all sides. How long it takes depends on how much pork you are preparing at one time.

Spread out a generous dollop of guacamole on top and serve immediately. Top the guacamole with some browned pork, then add some pico de gallo to finish it off. Serve the torta as soon as the top half of the bun is placed.

Conclusion

My hometown of Tampico, Tamaulipas, sold this torta many years ago at a street food stand. The Maritime Terminal and the train station were within walking distance of the air, on the corner of the municipal market. These sandwiches were only available in the evenings for some strange reason.