Carnitas

Carnitas

Carnitas is a Mexican pork dish popular in burritos and tacos and on nachos and anywhere pork can be used in Mexican or Tex-Mex cooking. Traditionally, its signature flavor is imparted by being deep fried in a pot of lard that is reused through several cooks throughout the day and flavors each batch. However, there is a good method to make it at home without that much trouble. I don't generally measure the spices for this recipe, I'll assume you have some basic familiarity working with spices and knowing when something is too much, but I've provided rough guidelines. Use your best judgement.

Ingredients

• 2 to 3lb pork shoulder roast
• A flavor neutral cooking oil with a smoke point above 275. (I use peanut but olive, canola, avocado etc. will work)
• salt & pepper (salt - generous, pepper - a little bit goes a long way)
• garlic powder or dried garlic (generous)
• dried onion (generous)
• dried oregano (some)
• ground cumin (a little bit goes a long way) (of all the spices here, this one is the easiest to overdo,)
• chipotle powder (some)
• dried valencia orange peel (a little bit goes a long way)
• small amount of lime juice (1 tsp or so)
• ancho or guajillo chili powder (a little bit goes a long way)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
Dice the pork into one to two inch cubes. Do not trim the fat first.
Gauging the amount of pork you end up with, place it in a casserole dish that will allow you to just barely hold it one layer. Some recipes want you not to crowd dishes or pans, with this recipe, that's exactly what you're trying to do. The idea is, that as the pork releases its fat, it will fry in it since the fat will have no place to go but to pack itself around the meat. The reason dry ingredients are used for staples like onions and garlic is to limit the water released by the cooking process so the fat can do its thing unimpeded.
Add your spices and lime juice in any order you'd like, and mix them evenly through the meat. (hands or utensil)
Add a small amount of the cooking oil, enough to lightly coat the top of the pork. You're not frying the pork in the oil, the pork has enough fat to do that own, the idea is to create a hydrophobic layer on top to help seal it all in.
Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and place in preheated oven
Let cook at 275 for 3 hours.

Remove, let cool enough to handle.
Shred with a fork,

Before serving, move serving to a broiler-safe surface (like a baking sheet) and put under the broiler waiting and mixing up until crisp.
Unused portions can be refrigerated for three days or frozen for several months.
In my experience this dish is flavorful enough that it can be eaten with nothing else, but it can be used in whatever Mexican or Tex Mex dishes you can devise and eaten alongside most sides.

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