Tacos de Carnitas
- Total Time
- 2½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 3pounds pork shoulder, either butt or picnic
- 7strips orange zest
- 5garlic cloves, minced
- 1large onion, chopped, plus finely chopped onion for garnish
- 1¼teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
- 1cinnamon stick, preferably Mexican canela
- 2bay leaves
- 1½teaspoons crushed dried oregano leaves, preferably Mexican
- 1½teaspoons kosher salt, more to taste
- ¼teaspoon ground cloves
- 24small corn tortillas, warmed, for serving
- Chopped cilantro for garnish
- Salsa for garnish
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
574 calories; 33 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 36 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 34 grams protein; 499 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Trim any thick fat from surface of pork. Cut meat into 1-inch cubes, discarding any that are pure fat. Put pork in a large pot. Add enough water to cover by 2 inches, orange zest, garlic, chopped onion, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, bay leaves, oregano, 1½ teaspoons salt and the cloves.
- Step 2
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Skim off any scum that forms on surface. Simmer uncovered for 1½ hours, until pork is very soft; add water if necessary to keep meat submerged. Season with salt, then continue to cook until water has evaporated, about 30 minutes. Cook a little longer to fry meat slightly; cook even longer if you prefer crisper meat. Stir often and add a bit of water if meat sticks or seems about to burn.
- Step 3
Remove bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Spoon a few tablespoons of carnitas onto each tortilla. Top each taco with cilantro, finely chopped onion and salsa. Serve.
Private Notes
Comments
I highly recommend that you bring the pork to a boil, reduce to a simmer and skim the scum BEFORE adding the other ingredients. Otherwise all of the ingredients that float will mix with the scum and be scimmed out along with the scum and the dish will be largely under seasoned.
We love this recipe.
Two things:
1. for those averse to the fat of pork shoulder, it CAN be done with pork loin, but need to add a little oil. (Its not as good like this, but perhaps healthier).
2. the recipe needs lacks cumin. It needs at at least a teaspoon.
I have done it in a slow cooker and, after taking it out, put on a baking pan and either broil (while watching closely until the meat begins to "fry"); or alternately, place in 350 oven until the same thing happens - about 25 minutes, but check often.
What I ended up with looks nothing like the photo. These instructions were poor. Make it again and maybe add some photos.
2" above the pork is a lot of water to simmer off. I think probably you want the water to be just at the top of the pork.
As some commenters have noted there are a few things wrong with this recipe - way too much water and not a high enough temperature. I added Enough water to go two inches of water above the pork and have simmered for 2 hours. I was simmering at the lower end of a simmer and at 90 minutes, the pork was still quite tough and little water had evaporated - it was looking quite soupy. I spooned out a fair bit of water then and started simmering a little hotter. The pork is just now starting to get tender, but I still have a pot filled with water at 2 hours. There is no frying happening here. Furthermore to get pork to fall apart, you typically want to be around 205 - most summers are 185-205. So there’s a good chance simmering it will yield a pork shoulder that is way too tough if you aren’t at the top end of that range. Somewhat surprised this was rated 5 stars given these issues.
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