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.
I put fish sauce and sugar in this, dont @ me
Like previous commenters have said, skim fist before adding the rest of the ingredients. It also took a lot longer to cook off the water, even though I started with it about an inch over the pork. Next time just barely cover the pork with water. I only thought this was pretty good, not great.
Definitely agree with comments mentioning it’s too much water and to boil pork by itself, skim scum, then add the spices, garlic, etc. Add quartered oranges and cumin with other spices. I’ve made this twice, it’s delicious but both times I’ve removed the meat after an 1 hour+, poured the liquid in another pot and boiled it. Then put the meat back in the Dutch oven and simmered it in its fat. I then splash the reducing liquid over the meat periodically. Once the meat is fall apart tender (about another hour), I strain it out of the fat and pour in the now very reduced, very flavorful liquid left from the other pot.