Pork

Carnitas

Name: Carnitas
Prep time: 12 min
Cook time: 9 h
Total time: 9 h
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 lb boneless pork shoulder, cut into 4 large pieces; 1 orange, juiced, halves thrown in; 1 lime, juiced; 1 yellow onion, quartered; 6 cloves garlic, smashed; 1 tbsp ground cumin · 2 tsp dried oregano · 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 2 tsp salt · 1 tsp black pepper; 2 bay leaves; 1/2 cup chicken broth; corn tortillas, diced white onion, cilantro and lime wedges, to serve

The slow cooker does the tender. The grill does the crisp. Skip the second step and you have made pulled pork, not carnitas.

Serves6

Prep12 min

Low9 hr

High5 hr

Pot6 qt

What goes in

4 lb boneless pork shoulder, cut into 4 large pieces
1 orange, juiced, halves thrown in
1 lime, juiced
1 yellow onion, quartered
6 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tbsp ground cumin · 2 tsp dried oregano · 1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp salt · 1 tsp black pepper
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup chicken broth

Stir in at the end

corn tortillas, diced white onion, cilantro and lime wedges, to serve

The grill step is the recipe

Spread the shredded pork on a tray, spoon some cooking liquid over, and grill it 5 to 8 minutes until the edges catch. Those crisp edges against the soft middle are the entire point of carnitas.

How to make it

Season the pork with the salt, pepper, cumin, oregano and cinnamon and put it in the pot.
Add the onion quarters, garlic, bay leaves, orange juice and the squeezed orange halves, lime juice and broth. Lid on.
Low 9 hours or high 5 hours, until it falls apart.
Lift the pork out, discard the orange halves, onion and bay leaves, and shred it.
Spread the pork on a baking tray, spoon over a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid, and grill 5 to 8 minutes until the edges are crisp and brown.
Serve on warm tortillas with onion, cilantro and lime.

Swap it

A can of cola instead of the orange juice is a common shortcut and works. Leftovers crisp up again in a dry pan.