Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas Recipe: Crispy, Juicy Mexican Pork

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Slow cooker pork carnitas is the easiest path to the best tacos of your life: a pork shoulder rubbed with cumin and oregano, slow-cooked in orange and lime juice until it falls apart, then crisped in a hot pan until the edges turn golden and crackly. Juicy inside, crispy outside — that contrast is the whole point. The slow cooker does the hard work. Eight hours on low turns a tough shoulder meltingly tender, and the citrus in the cooking liquid keeps the pork bright instead of heavy. The real magic happens at the end: shred the pork, spread it in a screaming-hot skillet with a splash of its own cooking liquid, and let it sit undisturbed until the edges char. Do not skip that step — crisping is what makes carnitas carnitas. Crispy edges, juicy center — carnitas night done right. Recipe Info Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 8 hours (slow cooker, low) Total time: 8 hours 30 minutes Servings: 8 Calories: ~520 kcal per serving Pork, citrus and spice — carnitas starts h...
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Ayam Bakar Taliwang Recipe: Spicy Grilled Chicken from Lombok

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Ayam bakar Taliwang is the fiery grilled chicken that put Lombok on Indonesia's culinary map: a whole chicken slathered in a blazing red paste of chilies, shallots, garlic, and shrimp paste, then grilled slowly until the skin chars at the edges and the meat stays juicy inside. It is bold, smoky, and unapologetically spicy — the kind of dish that makes a table go quiet for the first few bites.

The secret is a two-stage cooking method: the chicken is first simmered briefly in the spice paste so the flavor sinks deep into the meat, then finished over charcoal or a hot grill, basted again and again with the leftover paste. Serve it the Lombok way — with warm rice, plecing kangkung (water spinach with tomato sambal), and a wedge of lime to cut through the heat.

Charred spicy grilled ayam bakar Taliwang chicken on a plate with steamed rice, sambal, and lime wedges

Smoky, charred ayam bakar Taliwang with rice and sambal — Lombok's most famous grilled chicken.

Recipe Info

  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Cook Time: 40 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Servings: 4 servings
  • Calories: 520 kcal per serving
Raw ayam bakar Taliwang ingredients laid out on a wooden table: whole chicken, red chilies, shallots, garlic, candlenuts, shrimp paste, lime, lemongrass, sweet soy sauce, and cooking oil

Everything you need for ayam bakar Taliwang: chicken, red chilies, shallots, garlic, candlenuts, shrimp paste, lime, and lemongrass.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken (about 1.4 kg / 3 lb), butterflied or cut into 4 pieces
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lime juice, plus extra lime wedges to serve
  • 1 teaspoon (5 g) salt, for the chicken
  • 10 large red chilies (about 150 g / 5 oz), deseeded for less heat if preferred
  • 6 shallots (about 120 g / 4 oz), peeled
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 3 candlenuts (kemiri), lightly toasted
  • 1 teaspoon (5 g) shrimp paste (terasi), toasted
  • 1 tablespoon (15 g) palm sugar or brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) tamarind water
  • 2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, bruised
  • 3 kaffir lime leaves, torn
  • 1 teaspoon (2 g) ground coriander
  • 100 ml (about 1/2 cup) coconut milk or water
  • 3 tablespoons (45 ml) cooking oil
  • Steamed rice and plecing kangkung, to serve
Close-up of charred grilled ayam bakar Taliwang chicken with a glossy red chili glaze and juicy meat

That charred, glossy chili glaze is the signature of a proper Taliwang chicken.

Instructions

  1. Prepare the chicken. Pat the chicken dry, rub it all over with the lime juice and 1 teaspoon of salt, and let it sit for 15 minutes while you make the paste. Score the thickest parts of the legs and breasts lightly so the marinade penetrates.
  2. Blend the spice paste. In a blender or food processor, blend the red chilies, shallots, garlic, candlenuts, shrimp paste, palm sugar, sweet soy sauce, tamarind water, and ground coriander with 2 tablespoons of the oil until you have a fairly smooth paste, adding a splash of water if needed.
  3. Simmer the chicken in the paste. Heat the remaining oil in a large, wide pan over medium heat. Add the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, then pour in the spice paste and cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes until fragrant and slightly darkened. Add the coconut milk, lay the chicken in the pan, spoon the paste over it, cover, and simmer gently for 20 minutes, turning once, until the chicken is about three-quarters cooked.
  4. Heat the grill. While the chicken simmers, preheat a charcoal grill, grill pan, or oven broiler to medium-high heat (about 200°C / 400°F). Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve all the remaining spice paste for basting.
  5. Grill and baste. Grill the chicken skin-side down for 6 to 8 minutes, then flip and brush generously with the reserved paste. Grill for another 8 to 10 minutes, turning and basting every few minutes, until the skin is charred at the edges and the thickest part of the thigh reads 74°C (165°F) on a thermometer.
  6. Rest the chicken. Transfer the chicken to a plate, brush it once more with the remaining paste, and rest for 5 minutes so the juices redistribute before carving.
  7. Serve Lombok-style. Carve or cut the chicken into serving pieces and serve hot with steamed rice, plecing kangkung, extra sambal if you like, and lime wedges for squeezing over the top.

Tips & Variations

  • Control the heat: leaving the chili seeds in gives the full Lombok fire; deseeding the chilies and adding 1 extra red bell pepper keeps the color and flavor with a gentler burn.
  • No candlenuts? Substitute an equal weight of raw macadamia nuts or cashews — they give the same creamy body to the paste.
  • Do not skip the simmer step. Grilling raw marinated chicken alone dries it out; the gentle simmer in paste keeps it juicy and drives flavor into the meat.
  • Butterfly the chicken if you can: a spatchcocked bird cooks more evenly on the grill and picks up more char, which is exactly what you want.
  • Make it ahead: the spice paste keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for a month, so a weeknight Taliwang is just a grill away.
  • No grill? A cast-iron grill pan or the oven broiler works well — finish under the broiler 15 cm (6 inches) from the heat, watching closely so the sugary glaze does not burn.
  • For a milder family version, use half the chilies and serve the extra chili paste on the side as sambal, so everyone seasons their own plate.

Nutrition Note

One serving of ayam bakar Taliwang provides roughly 520 kcal, with about 42 g of protein from the chicken, 12 g of carbohydrates, and 33 g of fat, most of it from the skin and cooking oil. The chili paste adds capsaicin, vitamin C, and antioxidants with almost no calories, while the shrimp paste contributes a small amount of sodium. Removing the skin before eating trims roughly 100 kcal per serving. These figures are estimates and will vary with the size of the chicken and how much paste you eat.

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FAQ

What makes ayam bakar Taliwang different from other Indonesian grilled chicken?
The Taliwang paste is the difference: a raw red chili, shallot, garlic, candlenut, and shrimp paste blend that the chicken is first simmered in and then basted with on the grill, giving it a distinctive fiery, slightly sweet, smoky flavor from Lombok.

Can I use chicken pieces instead of a whole chicken?
Yes — bone-in thighs and drumsticks work beautifully and are more forgiving on the grill. Reduce the simmering time to about 15 minutes and grill until the internal temperature reaches 74°C (165°F).

Is ayam bakar Taliwang very spicy?
Traditionally, yes — it is one of Indonesia's hotter grilled chickens. Deseeding the chilies, adding a red bell pepper, or serving the extra paste on the side all tame the heat without losing the flavor.

What is plecing kangkung?
It is the classic Lombok side dish: blanched water spinach topped with a fresh sambal of tomato, chili, shallot, lime, and a little shrimp paste. It is the perfect cool, tangy partner to the rich grilled chicken.

Can I make ayam bakar Taliwang without a grill?
Absolutely. Roast the simmered chicken in a 220°C (425°F) oven for 15 to 20 minutes, basting with the paste halfway through, or finish it under the broiler for charred edges.

Now it is your turn to bring a taste of Lombok home. Fire up the grill, make a double batch of the paste, and let us know in the comments how hot you went — and what you served alongside it. Happy cooking!

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