Recipe book · 210 min
Pork carnitas
Slow-braised pork shoulder, crisped up at the end. Tacos for a crowd, and the leftovers keep.
How many people are eating
How to cook it · about 210 minutes
- Heat the oven to 300F. Cut the pork into 3-inch chunks and rub them all over with the salt, cumin and oregano.
- Put the pork in a Dutch oven or deep oven-safe pot with the lard, 1 onion cut in quarters, the garlic and the bay leaves. Squeeze in the juice of the orange and 1 lime, then drop the squeezed orange halves in too.
- Add water until it comes about halfway up the meat. Bring to a simmer on the stove, cover, and put it in the oven for 3 hours until the pork falls apart when poked.
- Lift the pork out and shred it into large pieces. Skim about 4 tbsp of the fat off the top of the liquid and throw out the orange, onion and bay leaves.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 2 tbsp of that fat. Spread out a single layer of pork and leave it alone for 4 minutes until the bottom is brown and crisp. Splash on a little of the cooking liquid, flip, and cook 2 minutes more. Repeat in batches.
- Warm the tortillas in a dry skillet. Finely dice the second onion, chop the cilantro and cut the rest of the limes into wedges.
- Serve the carnitas in doubled tortillas with onion, cilantro, salsa verde and lime.
Something else