Fried chicken and waffles make a beautiful pairing, though one that may have remained undiscovered if it weren’t for Wells Supper Club in New York. The Harlem restaurant is widely credited with being the first to create the combo in the late 1930s. It took a while to catch on, but today, it’s hard to find a brunch menu without the dish.
May the same future unfold for carnitas and pancakes — as it turns out, another remarkably complementary pair.
Find carnitas pancakes on the weekend brunch menu at Taco Joint, thanks to owner (and chicken-and-waffle lover) Edgar Castaneda. “I figured a pancake was the perfect substitute for a tortilla,” he says.
White-flour pancakes, though uncommon in Mexican cuisine, actually work better than corn tortillas to absorb the juicy carnitas, pulled from a bone-in pork shoulder braised in lard for hours. Following the same preparation used for French confit, the meat then continues to cook in its own fat, rendering it more tender and luscious. The pancake creates a super-soft cradle for the meat, which is finished in citrus-maple syrup.
Get the dish for $11, or as part of a $32 bottomless brunch package that includes an entree and two hours of bottomless margaritas, micheladas, palomas, bloody marias, sangria or beer.
“Carnitas pancakes have been very popular,” says Castaneda, proudly. “People are surprised how well the two go together.”
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Taco Joint, 1969 N. Halsted St., 312-951-2457; 158 W. Ontario St., 312-337-8226, www.tacojoint.com
David Hammond is a freelance writer.
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