This carnitas recipe features fragrantly spiced cubed pork slow-roasted in lard until crispy on the outside and soft and succulent on the inside. Pile some on a warm tortilla, drizzle with braising liquid, and top with salsa, onion, and cilantro for the world's best taco.
Ingredients
- boneless pork butt (shoulder): 3 pound
- garlic: 8 clove (peeled)
- olive oil: 0.25 cup
- orange, juiced, orange parts of peel removed and sliced into thin strips: 1 piece
- kosher salt: 1 Tbsp
- bay leaves, torn in half: 2 piece
- ground black pepper: 1 tsp
- ground cumin: 1 tsp
- ground cinnamon: 0.75 tsp
- Chinese 5-spice powder: 0.5 tsp
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
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Remove fat from pork; cut meat into 2-inch cubes and roughly chop fat.
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Mix together pork meat and fat with garlic, olive oil, orange peel, orange juice, salt, bay leaves, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, and 5-spice powder in a large bowl until pork is coated completely. Transfer mixture to a 9x13-inch baking dish. Cover the dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil, then place on a baking sheet.
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Bake in the preheated oven until pork is fork tender, about 3 1/2 hours.
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Set an oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.
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Remove garlic, orange peel, and bay leaves from the baking dish. Transfer pork to a colander set in a bowl. Pour accumulated juices from the baking dish over pork. Return pork to the baking dish and drizzle with some accumulated juices.
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Cook under the preheated broiler for 3 minutes. Drizzle more accumulated juices over pork and continue broiling until crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer pork to a serving plate and drizzle with remaining accumulated juices. Rock_lobster
