Tacos de cuerito
Tacos de cuerito are tacos of soft pork skin cooked in lard at carnitas stands, a gelatinous, elastic cut often paired with lean maciza; the word cueritos also names pickled pork skin served as a snack.
Name
Cuerito is the diminutive of cuero, skin or hide. The same word is used in two quite different ways in Mexican food. At a carnitas stand it means pork skin that has been cooked soft in the cazo and is sold as a taco filling. In markets and snack carts, cueritos en vinagre are strips of pork skin pickled in seasoned vinegar and eaten cold as an antojito. Both differ from chicharrón, which is skin fried until it puffs and turns crisp.
At the carnitas stand
El Financiero describes cueritos at carnitas stands as skin fried until soft or a little more golden, with a great deal of flavor. Excélsior calls the cut cooked skin that is soft and elastic. Thick skin from the ears, face and feet and thinner skin from the body can both be used.
Cuerito is frequently ordered with maciza, the lean meat of the loin or leg, because its gelatinous richness offsets the leaner cut's tendency to dryness. At Rincón Tarasco in Mexico City, a carnitas stand founded by a cook trained in Zacapu, Michoacán, maciza con cuerito is the best seller. Excélsior singles out Los Primos, a street stand on Durango in Roma Norte, for its soft cuerito.
Pickled cueritos
Chilango describes cueritos as strips of pork skin marinated in vinegar and used as a topping, for example on a base of fried chicharrón with cream, cabbage, tomato and avocado. The pickling liquid is often seasoned with spices and chile. Pickled cueritos are also served on tostadas, in cemitas, and in snack cups with cabbage, cucumber, lime and chile sauce.
Cuerito and chicharrón
The difference between the two is mostly in the cooking. Cuerito stays soft because it is either confited gently or pickled, while chicharrón is skin that has been salted, dried and fried until crisp. El Financiero describes this sequence, and adds that skin boiled in vinegar is the base of chicharrones preparados. Chilango describes a street dish that combines the two, with crisp chicharrón as the base and strips of pickled cuerito on top.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 750 g pork skin, with a thin layer of fat
- 1/2 white onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 500 g pork lard
- 1/2 orange
- 1/4 cup whole milk (optional, for color)
- 250 g cooked maciza or pork shoulder (optional)
- 12 to 24 corn tortillas
- Chopped onion, cilantro, limes, salsa verde
Steps
- Scrape the skin clean of any bristles and rinse. Cut into pieces about 8 cm square.
- Simmer in salted water with the onion and garlic until very tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Drain well and pat dry.
- Melt the lard in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the skin and orange and cook gently for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring now and then; add the milk for the last 10 minutes if you want a golden color. Stand back, as it may spatter.
- Lift out, drain and chop into strips. Mix with chopped maciza if using.
- Serve on warm doubled tortillas with onion, cilantro, lime and salsa verde.
Where to try it
- Rincón Tarasco, Mexico City: Michoacán-style carnitas stand whose best seller is maciza con cuerito.
- Los Primos, Mexico City: Roma Norte street stand known for soft cuerito.
- Carnitas El Güero, Oakland, California
- Carnitas El Guerras, Long Beach, California
- Tacos El Muchacho Alegre, Napa, California
- Tacos Los Estadios, Veracruz
- Tacos Paco, Veracruz
Reviews
Reviews and tips open at launch. Readers will be able to share where they found the best version of this and how they make it at home.
See also
References
- "¿Qué son nana, nenepil y bofe? Esto hay en tus tacos de carnitas". El Financiero. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "¿Dónde comer carnitas en la CDMX? Los lugares con los mejores tacos". Excélsior. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Rincón Tarasco o cómo enamorarse de un taco de carnitas". Chilango. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "6 formas de hacer chicharrón". Chilango. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Cueritos". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2026-10-10.