Pork Carnitas

I always try to cook something unique on special occasions. When I asked Jon what he wanted for his birthday dinner I was a little intimidated when he said "carnitas!" First, I've never made carnitas or anything remotely as involved. Second, my husband has high standards when it comes to Mexican food.

I scoured the Internet for recipes and finally landed on this one, which actually has more of a European background. The flavor was a little dull, but after adding a little bit more spice it got raving reviews and tasted even better the following day when we had it for leftovers.

Recipe with adaptation from David Lebovitz

Pork Carnitas

serving: 8

 

ingredients:

4-5-pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 5-inch chunks, trimmed of excess fat
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
water
1 cinnamon stick or 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon (Canela Molida)
2 teaspoon chile powder mix
2 teaspoon ground regular chili

1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
 2 bay leaves

2 teaspoon ground cumin
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly-sliced

 

directions

Rub the pieces of pork shoulder all over with salt. Refrigerate for 1- to 3-days. Due to time restraints I only allowed 1/2 a day for them to sit. (You can skip this step if you want. Just be sure to salt the pork before searing the meat in the next step.)

 

Heat the oil in a roasting pan (I used a dutch oven) set on the stove top. Cook the pieces of pork shoulder in a single layer until very well-browned, turning them as little as possible so they get nice and dark before flipping them around. If your cooking vessel is too small to cook them in a single-layer, cook them in two batches.

Once all the pork is browned, remove them from the pot and put into roasting pan. Blot away any excess fat with a paper towel, then pour in about a cup of water, scraping the bottom of the pan with a flat-edged utensil to release all the tasty brown bits.

 

Heat the oven to 350F (180C) degrees.

 

Add enough water so the pork pieces are 2/3rd’s submerged in liquid. Add the cinnamon stick and stir in the chile powders, bay leaves, oregano, cumin and garlic.

Braise in the oven uncovered for 3½ hours, turning the pork a few times during cooking (I did every 45 minutes), until much of the liquid is evaporated and the pork is falling apart. Remove the pan from the oven and lift the pork pieces out of the liquid and set them on a platter.

 

Once the pork pieces are cool enough to handle, shred them into bite-sized pieces, about 2-inches (7 cm), discarding any obvious big chunks of fat if you wish.

 

Return the pork pieces back to the roasting pan and cook in the oven, turning occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the pork is crispy and caramelized. It will depend on how much liquid the pork gave off, and how crackly you want them.

 

I got so involved in the consuming process I completely forgot to take pictures of the finished product, but trust me it's good :)