Description
Carnitas are the crispy, shredded pork base that becomes a key ingredient in your favorite meals.
Ingredients
3 pounds pork shoulder, either butt or picnic
7 strips orange zest and juice from the orange
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 large onion, chopped, plus finely chopped onion for garnish
1 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 cinnamon stick, preferably Mexican canela or 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed dried oregano leaves, preferably Mexican
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, more to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
To make carnitas tacos:
24 small corn tortillas, warmed, for serving
Chopped cilantro for garnish
Salsa for garnish
Instructions
Trim any thick fat from surface of pork. Cut meat into 1-inch cubes, discarding any that are pure fat. Put pork in a large pot. Add enough water to cover by 1 inch and bring to a boil. Skim foam.
Add orange zest, orange juice, garlic, chopped onion, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, bay leaves, oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and the cloves. Keep at a high simmer. Simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours, until pork is very soft; add water if necessary to keep meat submerged. Season with salt, then continue to cook until water has evaporated, about 30 minutes. Cook a little longer to fry meat slightly; cook even longer if you prefer crisper meat. Stir often, flip often and add a bit of water if meat sticks or seems about to burn.
(I did not need to add extra water, though this did take much longer than the recipe called for to simmer the water away, therefore instead of adding 2″ of water over the surface of the meat, I decreased the water volume to 1″ above the meat.)
Remove bay leaves and cinnamon stick, if used. Spoon a few tablespoons of carnitas onto each tortilla. Top each taco with cilantro, finely chopped onion and salsa. Serve.
Notes
Carnitas is the gateway to many great Mexican recipes. Make a double batch if you prefer.
Be prepared as this meat will really shrink down when cooking.