What is the difference between Al Pastor and Carnitas?!
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Pork is normally used for both, but the meat is prepared differently. With Al Pastor, the meat is marinated for a couple of days and then cooked on a rotisserie. With Carnitas, the meat is seasoned, braised, and then roasted in a pan.
Both are delicious, but Carnitas are my favorite.
Carnitas are pieces of pork that are fried in lard and served chopped as a taco filling.
Al Pastor (Shepherds' Style) are thin slices of pork that are layered onto a vertical spit with anchiote and chile powders (everyone has their own recipe) with a slice of pineapple on top. The spit rotates in front of an open flame or charcoal fire and is constantly basted with the marinade.
When they're done, the meat is shaved off with a knife into a tortilla and served with a bit of pineapple and other garnishes.
Traditional Al Pastor is done on a rotisserie and has some sweetness to it (from pineapple juice) and color from achiote and dried chilies. Some restaurants will skip the rotisserie and cook the meat on a griddle.
Carnitas is essentially twice cooked pork stew - braised, shredded and fried to give it a crispy outside. There is no sweetness added to carnitas.
When I order tacos de carnitas, I was usually given something like this: http://theeatenpath.com/wordpress/wp-con…
As for tacos al pastor, this is more common: http://www.latidodemexico.com/blog/wp-co…
This is al pastor: http://www.psp.gatech.edu/fleet/sites/LB…
:)
Al pastor is marinated red meat in a red chili sauce carnitas are shredded pork in no sauce