Carnitas, literally meaning "little meats", in Mexican cuisine, is a dish made by braising, simmering and frying pork in its own fat, lard or cooking oil.

[1] The process takes three to four hours, and the result is very tender and juicy meat, which is then typically served with chopped cilantro (coriander leaves), diced onion, salsa, guacamole, tortillas, and refried beans (frijoles refritos).

The traditional way to cook carnitas is in a thick-bottomed pot with seasonings simmered in lard until tender over a very low heat.

At this stage, the collagen in the meat has broken down sufficiently to allow it to be pulled apart by hand or fork or chopped with a cleaver.

According to Mariano Galvan Rivera’s cookbook —Diccionario de cocina (1845)— “carnitas” was the vulgar name given by Mexico’s lower classes to the dish known as “Chicharrones de Tours”, and were specifically made and sold in working class neighborhood slaughterhouses or pork shops:[3] “CHICHARRONES OF TOURS: Among us, these chicharrones are vulgarly called “carnitas”, and they are usually sold in butcher shops where there are pork products, or in barrio slaughterhouses, because they are not made or sold in first-class pork shops.”