INGREDIENTS
- 3 to 3.5.lb. Piece of Pork Shoulder (aka Pork Butt) with nice amount of “fat back.”
So, a little side thought about pork. It’s really tasty because the fat renders off into, well… basically lard. Lard is sabor. Sure, you can trim all the fat and the pork will still cook. Will it be as moist and delicious? IMHO, meh, but you do you. 🙂
Thought #2: Your piece o’ pork should fit in a small Dutch oven. If it doesn’t fit, you have two choices: Get a bigger Dutch oven or cut the pork into smaller pieces. If it was me, I’d get a bigger Dutch oven, so the pork retains as much moisture as possible.
INGREDIENTS, continued
- 1-1/2 Tbsp of Vegetable Oil for the oven
- 1 tsp Vegetable Oil for the stovetop at the end
- 8 Cloves of Garlic, minced
- Juice of 1 Orange
- 1/4 Cup Water or Chicken Stock
- 2 tsp of Dried Onion Flakes
- 2 tsp of Cumin
- 1 tsp of Chili Powder
- 1 tsp of Oregano
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
METHOD
- Measure all the dried spices into a container and roughly set aside 1/3 to 1/2
- Combine orange juice, minced garlic, and water. Set aside
- Place oil in Dutch oven and start heating on the stovetop at med to med-high heat depending on your gas output. Don’t let the oil smoke, but it does need to get to searing temperature.
- If you’re keeping the tasty fatback, score it lightly with a paring knife. I usually do diamond-shaped scores, but it really doesn’t matter LOL.
- Sprinkle the pork with the 1/2 to 1/3 salt, cumin, pepper, oregano, and cayenne mixture you set aside earlier. Massage it into the pork butt.
- Tell it you’ll respect it in the morning and place the butt, fat side down into the Dutch oven.
- Brown the pork on all sides. Remember, brown food is good food.
- Place the orange juice, water, garlic mixture around the pork.
- Cover and cook until the pork is fork-tender or falling off the bone*, about 3 hours, then 30 minutes for this amount of meat with the lid off to evaporate some of the liquid.
*One last thought about pork. If you try to test the doneness after 2.5 hours (or even 3) and find it’s rubbery as shoe leather, don’t freak out. That’s part of pork’s evolution. It will resist the heat, but in the last half hour or so, it just RELAAAAAAAXESsss and starts to fall apart.
- on a rimmed baking sheet or cutting board with a “moat”, start pulling the pork apart with a fork. It should literally just fall apart. Remove and toss any unwanted fat.
The pork is GREAT at this point and you can go right ahead and serve it the way you normally would. HOWEVER… I go one step further to get that crispy carnitas quality that usually comes with the deep fry method.
- Look deep into your dutch oven and decide if you want to remove any of the remaining liquid and rendered fat. I don’t. If you want to add the add’l 1 tsp vegetable oil, now is the time. Turn the heat to med-high to high.
- Using tongs, transfer the pork BACK into the dutch oven, along with any juices from the cutting board. Keep tossing until meat is crisp on the edges or as brown as you like it.
Now it’s ready to serve. We usually do homemade flour tortillas with homemade salsa verde (yes the recipe is coming) plus sliced avocado and pickled red onion with cilantro.
Storage: Leftover carnitas can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The BEST part??? It can be FROZEN in zip-style baggies for several weeks. When you’re ready to eat, just go straight from freezer to a hot pan with a little oil. It will crisp right up and taste amazingly fresh.
Salt, Sweet, Spirits. 