Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas)

Ingredients

PORK
1 (3-1⁄2- to 4-pound) boneless pork butt roast, fat cap trimmed to 1⁄8 inch thick and cut into 2-inch chunks
2 cups water
1 onion, peeled and halved
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
1 orange, halved
TORTILLAS AND GARNISHES
18 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed
Lime wedges
Minced white or red onion
Fresh cilantro
Thinly sliced radishes
Sour cream

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine pork, water, onion, lime juice, oregano, cumin, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper in Dutch oven (liquid should just barely cover meat). Juice orange into bowl and remove any seeds (you should have about 1⁄3 cup juice). Add juice and spent orange halves to pot. Bring mixture to simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover pot and transfer to oven; cook until meat is soft and falls apart when prodded with fork, about 2 hours, flipping pieces of meat once during cooking.
Remove pot from oven and turn oven to broil. Using slotted spoon, transfer pork to bowl; remove orange halves, onion, and bay leaves from cooking liquid and discard (do not skim fat from liquid). Place pot over high heat (use caution, as handles will be very hot) and simmer liquid, stirring frequently, until thick and syrupy (heat-resistant spatula should leave wide trail when dragged through glaze), 8 to 12 minutes. You should have about 1 cup reduced liquid.
Using 2 forks, pull each piece of pork in half. Fold in reduced liquid; season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread pork in even layer on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet or on broiler pan (meat should cover almost entire surface of rack or broiler pan). Place baking sheet on lower-middle rack and broil until top of meat is well browned (but not charred) and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Using wide metal spatula, flip pieces of meat and continue to broil until top is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Serve with warm tortillas and garnishes.

Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas)

Ingredients

Instructions

Tags

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