Carnitas

• Serves: 8-10

• Source

• Contributor: MikeCrute

This recipe makes incredibly tender and tasty carnitas. They are on the medium side of spicy so they should be good for everyone. The peppers add a really nice flavor but cook down to a mush so you really won't see them in the final product. It's important to the flavor of the dish that you add the pepper seeds; they heat cooks out of them really well and all that is left is a nice flavor.

The key to this recipe is that the meat has fat, so don't trim it! If there's not enough fat on the meat the recipe will turn out too dry. Whether to shred the meat like pulled pork or leave it in cubes I think is determined by what you're used to eating.

Recommended serving suggestion, on warmed corn tortillas with guacamole and a little hot sauce.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds of pork butt (shoulder roast), with plenty of fat
• 1 cup of orange juice
• 3 cups of water
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 poblano pepper
• 2 jalapeno peppers
• 3 serrano peppers

Instructions

1. Cut pork into strips (three inches by one inch), add to a large pot with the liquids and salt. Slice the peppers into large chunks, add the peppers including their seeds to the pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered on low for 2 hours. Do not touch the meat.
2. After two hours, turn heat up to medium high, and continue to cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the pork fat has rendered (about 45 minutes). Stir a few times, to keep pork from sticking to bottom of pan.
3. When pork has browned on both sides, it’s ready (there will be liquid fat in the pan).
4. As the fat renders add the paprika, cayenne and garlic powder and stir
5. Continue cooking until the pork is a little burned, but not too much
6. Serve either cubed or shredded (pork will be tender enough that just touching it will cause it to fall apart).

CategoryRecipesDinner