Slow-Braised Carnitas

Carnitas is a wonderful Mexican dish, pork shoulder cooked until tender and then given a great crisp. In Mexico, carnitas is eaten on its own, in tacos, or in tortas. The traditional recipe is simple: several pounds of pork shoulder, several pounds of lard, orange peel, and some water (or coca-cola), slow roasted and then boiled to a crisp. That is…a bit much. What follows is not an authentic approach.

Carnitas

Never ones to eschew taste for health, the French have nonetheless taught us nothing if not that we can make a succulent, flavorful dish without boiling a tough cut of meat in lard. In that vein, my recipe is more of a braiser de porc than a confit de porc—pork shoulder, aromatics, citrus juice, and a little Grand Marnier, slow cooked on the stove. Healthier for the heart, but also—more importantly—tastier to the tongue. To obtain that classic carnitas crisp, we braise the meat uncovered until the liquid evaporates and then move the pot to the oven and caramelize.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Ingredients:

3 lbs boneless pork shoulder, Boston butt (the upper shoulder) preferred, but picnic shoulder (the lower) fine
2 tablespoons grape seed oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly-sliced
2 oranges, zested and juiced
2 limes, zested and juiced
1/2 cup Grand Marnier
several cups chicken stock
herb sachet with 4 sprigs Mexican oregano, 3 sprigs thyme, 1 cinnamon stick, and 2 bay leaves, wrapped in a cheese cloth and tied shut with cooking twine
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground ancho chile
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
coarse sea salt, to coat meat, plus more to taste

Cut the pork shoulder into 5" chunks. Remove any gratuitously-excessive fat, but leave at least a thin layer. Sprinkle the chunks with sea salt. Let sit at room temperature at least 30 minutes.

Salting the pork shoulder

Heat the grape seed oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Saute the pork shoulder until well browned on each side. If needed, saute over multiple batches.

Sauteing the pork shoulder

Add the garlic, orange zest, and lime zest and saute for one minute. Add the herb sachet and stir to infuse. Add the Grand Marnier, orange juice, and lime juice. Stir, scrapping the bottom of the pot.

Mexican oregano, thyme, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf

Herb sachet, tied and ready

Add chicken stock as needed so that the pork is two-thirds submerged in liquid. Add the ground cayenne pepper, ground ancho chile, ground chipotle chile, cumin, and black pepper.

Spices: ground cayenne pepper, ground ancho chile, ground chipotle chile, cumin

Stirring, raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat until the pot is just at a simmer and braise, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pork is cooked and falling apart and the liquid is reduced by at least two-thirds, about three hours. If the liquid gets perilously-low while cooking, add a little chicken stock.

Simmering

Remove pork from pot. Once cool enough to handle, use a fork and knife to shred the pork into bite-sized, but fairly large, chunks, removing any fatty pieces as desired.

Preheat oven to 450°F

Caramelizing in the oven

Return pork chunks to pot. Place uncovered pot in oven. Continue cooking until the liquid has evaporated and the pork is crispy and starting to caramelize, about 20 minutes.

Carnitas taco

Taste and adjust salt. Serve with warm corn tortillas, guacamole, pico de gallo, diced shallot, chopped cilantro, lime wedges, margaritas, and college football.