Pork Carnitas
Pork shoulder slow-cooked with orange, garlic, and warm spices, then broiled until the edges crisp up. You can cook it submerged in lard the traditional way, or in beef stock for a lighter version. Pile it into tortillas with a quick lime-onion-cilantro salsa and salsa verde.
Nutrition · per serving
≈ estimated- Calories
- 902
- Protein
- 49.6g
- Carbs
- 53.6g
- Fat
- 53.2g
Ingredients
- 3 lb pork shoulder (diced into 2-inch cubes, salted)
- lard (enough to cover, for the lard method)
- beef stock (enough to cover, for the lighter method)
- 1 orange (juiced and halved)
- 1/2 onion
- 1 head garlic
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 18 tortillas (corn or flour)
- 3 lime
- 1 cup salsa verde
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Method
- 1
Dice the pork shoulder into 2-inch cubes, salt them, and let them rest.
- 2
Optional: sear the pork first in the pot to build up a fond on the bottom.
- 3
Cook the pork in either melted lard (enough to cover) or beef stock. For the lard method, melt the lard in the pot first before adding the pork. If you seared the pork, add the lard or stock and scrape up the fond, then add the pork back in.
- 4
Add the juiced and halved orange, half an onion, a head of garlic, about 3 bay leaves, cinnamon, cumin, coriander seeds, and oregano.
- 5
Cook at 300F for 3 hours, the first 1.5 hours uncovered, then covered.
- 6
Take the pork out, spoon some of the liquid over it, and rest for 30 minutes, or let it cool overnight.
- 7
Shred and chop the pork on a baking sheet, then broil for 5 to 10 minutes until browned.
- 8
Dice the cilantro and onion and put them in a bowl with salt, pepper, and the juice of one lime. Let it sit until you're ready to serve.
- 9
Fill the tortillas with carnitas, the onion salsa, salsa verde, and a squeeze of lime.
