The magic of carnitas comes from the slow-cooking, which allows in plenty of pork fat and is part of how it gets both its tender texture and incredible flavor. Some recipes call for braising pork in extra lard to fry it at the beginning, but according to Santibañez, this isn’t really necessary. With the smaller chunks of pork and smaller pot, the braising liquid will draw out plenty of fat. “Once the liquid has evaporated,” he says, “you will see the pieces of pork deliciously browning in their own fat.” It’s an amazing process that makes use of the natural characteristics of the meat with a bare minimum of extra ingredients, and you get a result every bit as good as what you would in a restaurant.

What else do you need to create great carnitas at home? Not much at all. Carnitas’ braising liquid is usually flavored with some halved oranges, onion, and a few warm spices like cumin. You don’t need a ton of additions for carnitas because the oils in these ingredients are fat soluble, so the rendered lard they cook in brings out tons of extra flavor molecules. As Santibañez told us, the pork shoulder already has almost everything you need to make great carnitas inside it already, it’s just a matter of getting that fat out in the most effective way possible.