Pork Carnitas

Whew.  After a well needed rest from the blog, I'm back and have some tasty recipes that I'm excited to try and share.  After reading a few recipes for pork carnitas, I couldn't resist the urge any longer and made a trip to the market for some pork shoulder. 

Our old neighborhood used to have a taco bus that served some seriously great (and seriously spicy) carnitas.  Carnitas means small meats and the carnitas I've had in the past are always so full of flavor and the meat is extra tender.  And after thoroughly questioning my cleaning lady, I discovered that the best tasting pork carnitas only require three ingredients to get the meat fork tender and seasoned.  Water, salt and white vinegar.  Seriously?  Why yes, I am.

In addition to the salt, water, vinegar and cubed pork, I added some fresh lime juice based on an idea I saw in another recipe.

3.5lbs of boneless pork shoulder cut in to 1-2" cubes.  In a pan with about 1/2 c. fresh lime juice, a few teaspoons salt, about a 1/2c. white vinegar and a few cups of water (not quite enough to cover all the meat), I let the meat simmer for a few hours until fork tender and then let it sear itself a bit when the liquid evaporated.  I tested a few cubes of meat and added a dash of ground cumin, a little more salt and a dash more of vinegar.

After about three hours of simmering, the meat fell apart.  I do recommend keeping a close eye on the meat when the liquid gets very low.  Some of the meat pieces became a little to crisp.  I shredded my pork a bit in the pan as it neared the end of cooking time.

I made a very basic slaw... only because I didn't have any other quick options.  Shredded cabbage with some poppyseed dressing and a few squeezes of lime.

Topping for the carnitas... lime wedges, chopped white onion, avocado, cilantro and crumbled queso fresco.

We used small corn torillas warmed in the oven for a few minutes at 200 degrees.  Top the tortilla with some pork and toppings of choice.  I liked an extra squeeze of lime a splash of vinegar (don't knock it 'til you try it) on mine. My husband preferred his with coleslaw.  Iris, our cleaning queen says she eats carnitas with a carrot slaw and lime/vinegar mix.

As sides I warmed some black beans, refried beans (our kids are obsessed with them), and made a batch of mexican rice (yes, out of a box...).

I ate the leftovers for lunch and we even had enough to make a couple small pork sandwiches slathered in BBQ sauce.  (We prefer Pete's Zesty Pulled Pork Sauce).

If you want more specific recipes than what I note above, you can check out Smitten Kitchen's post about pork carnitas here.  Very similar recipe, but a little different sauce mix to cook the pork in.