No Waste Carnitas

Submitted by Myst on Tue, 11/13/2018 - 16:51

This recipe is used to make several meals worth of carnitas.  I do not make the tomatillo salsa that is part of the original recipe.

When making for tacos finely chop 1/4c cilantro with 1/2 of a finely chopped onion.

Make with homemade tortillas.

Ingredients
3lbPork Shoulder/Butt
1TblKosher Salt
1mediumOrange (cut into wedges)
1smallLime (cut into wedges)
1/2mediumOnion (quartered)
4clGarlic (cut in half)
2wholeBayleaf
1wholeCinnamon Stick (broken into 3 or 4 pieces)
1/8cVegetable Oil
4TblsLard
Preparation
  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 275 degrees.
  2. Prepare onion and garlic.
  3. Cut pork into 2 inch chunks and season with 1 tablespoon salt and place in a 9 by 13 glass casserole dish. The pork should fill the dish with no spaces.
  4. Split orange and lime into quarters and squeeze juice over pork. Nestle squeezed orange and lime pieces into casserole.
  5. Add 2 onion quarters, 4 cloves garlic, bay leaves, and cinnamon stick to casserole. Nestle everything into an even layer. Pour vegetable oil over surface and distribute lard in spoonfuls over top of pork.
  6. Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil and place in oven and cook until pork is fork tender, about 3 1/2 hours.
  7. Set large fine-meshed strainer over a 1 quart liquid measure or bowl. Using tongs, remove orange peel, onion, garlic, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves from pork. Transfer pork and liquid to strainer. Let drain for 10 minutes. You should end up with about 1/2 cup liquid and 1/2 cup fat.
  8. Transfer pork back to casserole. Using a flat spoon or de-fatter, skim fat from surface and add back to pork. Shred pork into large chunks with fingers or two forks. Season to taste with salt.  Add some of the reserved liquids back to the shredded pork.
  9. Serve in your favorite format (tacos with the homemade tortillas, tamales, nachos).
Credits

This recipe is from Serious Eats.