Carnitas

[downsizingnow48]

We really like carnitas (Mexican pulled pork) in restaurants so I decided to make it at home. I studied about a dozen recipes. They were all different except for the basic idea, which is simmering a large amount of pork at low heat for a long time so it can be pulled apart. So I decided to make up my own recipe, using elements of about a half dozen recipes that looked most interesting. Unlike most carnitas recipes, this one does not require much work. Also does not require frying the pork in lard.

Ingredients
4-5 pounds of pork shoulder roast
2 medium white onions
5 garlic cloves
4 large dried chiles (I used black chiles, chile negro), no seeds or stems
2 fresh jalapeno chiles no seeds or stems
1 fresh poblano chile no seeds or stems
1 tablespoon mexican oregano
1 teaspoon each cumin, thyme, marjoram
2 bay leaves
salt pepper

Cut up the pork into large steak-like pieces. Salt and pepper. It needs to be browned. I put it on the grill instead. This accomplishes the same thing but keeps the mess outside instead of oil splattered all over the kitchen.

Put slabs of browned pork into dutch oven. Add all the other ingredients, cover with water.

Simmer on top of stove for about 2 1/2 hours.

Take out the pork, let cool, then pull apart into chunks. Not shredded completely, just chunks.

Thats it.

We had it in tortillas with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. I also fished out the boiled up chiles and onions and mashed them up, it made a nice garnish. And we saved the broth for spicy soup stock.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

That sounds pretty good. I have cooked pulled pork on the smoker, so I'm wondering if it couldn't be adapted to the smoker. I have a Dutch oven; maybe brown it on high heat, put it in the Dutch oven for an hour or so and finish it off covered. Oh, and it sounds like a natural with guacamole. I use the "Rotel Guacamole" recipe with plenty of garlic!

Guacamole Rotel Recipe - Genius Kitchen

 

[EddieWalker]

The two biggest shocks for me when moving to Texas from California, is it's just about impossible to get Carnitas, and when you do, it's very bland. The other is that Tri Tip is even harder to find!!!!

And maybe the third shock was how bland all the Mexican food is here. Very little onions, cilantro or spices. They call it TexMex, which to me, means bland and boring.

I've learned that Mexican food is very different in different places, and what I grew up on isn't anything like what everyone here grew up on. Friends that have moved here from CA have also noticed this. It's kind of funny seeing their FB posts when they go home and eat some "real" Mexican food.

I'm going to print your recipe out and see if I can talk my wife into giving it a try. One of the things that I'm really bad at is cooking, but she's an amazing cook and hopefully she will want to give this a try.

Thanks!!!

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I lived in Albuquerque for three years; there is only one place in Oklahoma that I have found that is anywhere near what we could get there. Their Chile Rellenos would peel the skin off your tongue!

 

[downsizingnow48]

That looks like a very good guacamole recipe. If we were still living in Northumberland County, VA I would try it out right away. Here in Sacramento there are lots of Mexican grocery stores and it is easy to get good salsa and quacamole.

 

[s219]

My wife has a great carnitas recipe -- she takes a pork butt and cooks it in the crockpot all day, then pulls it apart and briefly fries the loose meat to give it some extra flavor and texture. Boy is it good. I don't know what the seasoning is but I'd say it's standard Mexican seasoning (definitely has some cumin in it).

 

[MossRoad]

Little meats! :licking:

 

[cqaigy2]

Little meats! :licking:

with a side of rooster beaks.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

That looks like a very good guacamole recipe. If we were still living in Northumberland County, VA I would try it out right away. Here in Sacramento there are lots of Mexican grocery stores and it is easy to get good salsa and quacamole.

I can imagine. I do like good guacamole, and I have eaten everything from library paste to great guacamole. Seems that mostly, though, we have to make our own to get the best stuff. I leave out the Serrano pepper, but it has to have garlic. We have Mexican cuisine at the Elks a couple times a year, courtesy of "Speedy" Gonzales. Somehow I get picked to make the guacamole and the Green Chile Stew...he even brags on my stew!

 

[cqaigy2]

Green chile stew sounds good.