Carnitas
Carnitas
3 hr 30 min, Dutch oven, serves 6
Ingredients
Pork pork shoulder 1.5kg onion 1 garlic 5 cloves orange 1 lime 2 ground cumin 2 tsp dried oregano 2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp bay leaves 2 chicken stock 200ml salt and pepper to season To serve tortillas pickled red onion jalapeño relish fermented hot sauce lime
Pork belly works too, with exactly the same steps. It is fattier, so it comes out richer and more melting, with extra crispy edges.
Recipe
1. Cut the pork shoulder into large 5cm chunks, leaving some fat on. Season well with salt and pepper.
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2. Put the pork in the Dutch oven with the quartered onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, cinnamon and bay. Squeeze in the orange and lime juice and add the stock. The liquid should come about halfway up.
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No searing, no preheating the pot. Everything goes in cold and comes up to temperature together in the oven. The crisping comes at the end under the grill.
3. Lid on, into the oven at 150°C for 3 hours until the pork falls apart easily.
4. Lift the pork out with a slotted spoon, leaving the juices in the pot, into the stand mixer bowl. Paddle on low for a few seconds until shredded.
Flex edge beater or paddle on low. A few seconds only, it shreds fast.
Keep the juices left in the pot. Some go back over the pork in the next step, the rest is great for moistening or freezing it.
5. Spread the shredded pork on a tray, spoon over some of the cooking juices and crisp under a hot grill for 5/10 minutes until the edges are golden and crispy.
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6. Pile into warm tortillas with pickled onion, jalapeño relish, a squeeze of lime and hot sauce.
❄ Freezer
Freeze: shred and freeze in its own juices, flat in bags.
Reheat: from frozen in a pan or oven, crisp the edges at the end.
Keeps: 3 months frozen, 3 days in the fridge.
Froze it without the juices? Warm it through with the juice of an orange and a lime, a splash of water and a spoon of oil. Then crisp as in step 5. No stock, no extra salt.