Pork Carnitas

Sometimes when its wet and windy and cold, I get the urge to cook something that will simmer on the stove for hours, really warm the air with its scent, and transport me to a better climate with its taste. Today, that dish was pork carnitas. Its one of my favorite things to make, and yet I realized today its been at least a year since I’ve made it. I don’t follow a recipe; I came up with my method through a bit of cookbook research mixed with a lot of trial and error. Here’s the how I made it tonight – the ingredients generally stay the same each time, but the amounts can differ depending on what I have on hand and what I feel like doing.

I served the carnitas with tortillas, sliced radishes, a quick cabbage and red pepper pickle (in lime and cider vinegar), store-bought salsa,  and baked sweet potatoes on the side.

Pork Carnitas
3 lbs pork roast (I used boneless butt today but a lot of times I use country style ribs).
1 yellow onion (chopped)
1 jalapeño pepper (diced)
5 garlic cloves (medium size, chopped)
1 bottle beer (tonight it was Corona, but its quite nice to use a darker beer – Mexican beer is not essential)
1 cup orange juice
juice of 3 limes
1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
juice of  1 orange
salt
pepper
cumin
oregano
canola oil (for frying the pork)
water

1. Trim some of the fat from the pork and then cut it into chunks (I like to cut it a bit bigger than bite size). You want to leave some of the fat on the meat that it renders out into the liquid during cooking and helps the meat to brown and caramelize at the end. Season the meat with salt, pepper, and cumin, and brown it in just a bit of canola oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. This takes about 10 minutes.

2. Add the onions, garlic and jalapeño and let them cook until they’re softened, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the beer, orange juice, lime juice, oregano, more salt, pepper and cumin, and add water until the meat is just covered.

4. Cook at a simmer until the liquid is almost completely evaporated. You’ll be left with a kind of thick gravy. At this point, the meat will begin to fry and brown in its own oil – let it go until its deep brown with crispy parts. As you stir, most of the chunks will begin to break apart or shred, but that’s ok (that’s why I start with larger than bite-sized pieces).

5. That’s it! Now you have carnitas! Serve them with tortillas and whatever accompaniments you’d like. Tortillas are essential, lime wedges to squeeze on top are quite nice, salsa, pickled jalapeños, shredded cabbage. . .