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Pork · Mexican · Braise

Crispy Pork Carnitas

Pork shoulder slow-braised in its own fat with orange and spices, then broiled until the edges go shattering-crisp. Soft, juicy, and lacquered all at once. Built for taco night.

Serves6
Time180 min
Calories620 kcal
Steps6
Tags
PorkMexicanBraiseTaco
PHOTOhero image goes here
Scale

Ingredients

17 items
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  • The pork
  • 3 lbboneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch chunks
  • 1onion, quartered
  • 6 clovesgarlic, smashed
  • 1orange (juiced, then drop the spent halves in)
  • 2bay leaves
  • 1 tbspground cumin
  • 1 tbspdried oregano
  • 1 tspground cinnamon
  • 2 tspsalt
  • 1 tspblack pepper
  • 2 tbsplard or neutral oil
  • water, to nearly cover
  • To serve
  • warm corn tortillas
  • diced white onion
  • chopped cilantro
  • lime wedges
  • salsa verde

Method

6 steps
  1. Heat the oven to 300F. Toss the pork chunks with the cumin, oregano, cinnamon, salt, and pepper until evenly coated.

  2. Pile the pork into a Dutch oven with the onion, garlic, orange juice and spent halves, bay leaves, and lard. Add water until the pork is nearly covered.

  3. Bring to a simmer on the stove, then cover and move to the oven for 2.5 to 3 hours, until the pork is completely tender and pulls apart with no resistance.

  4. Lift the pork out and shred it into large craggy pieces. Discard the orange halves, bay, and onion. Pour the braising liquid into a fat separator (or skim it) and reserve both the rich fat and a cup of the juices; this is what crisps and re-moistens the meat.

  5. Heat the broiler. Spread the shredded pork on a sheet pan, spoon over some of the reserved fat, and broil 4 to 6 minutes until the edges crisp and char in spots. Pull it, toss with a splash of the reserved juices to keep it juicy, then broil once more for a second round of crisp.

  6. Pile into warm tortillas with onion, cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and salsa verde.