Pork Carnitas
(from jlpennington’s recipe box)
Source: Recipe adapted from Cooks Illustrated by Beth Borden
Ingredients
- 4 pound boneless pork butt, fat trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 onion, peeled and halved
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 C water
Directions
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Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat to 300 degrees. Combine all the ingredients in a large Dutch oven. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, uncovered. Once it simmers, cover pot and transfer it to the oven. Cook until the meat falls apart when prodded with a fork, about 2 hours.
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Remove the pot from the oven and turn on the broiler. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan and place it on a large jelly roll pan. Remove and discard everything from the pot except for the cooking liquid. Place pot over high heat on the stove and boil until thick and syrupy, about 20 minutes. You should have about 1 C of liquid remaining when it is finished.
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Once the liquid has become a syrup, pour syrup over the pieces of meat on the jelly roll pan. Taste and add additional salt and pepper.
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Spread the meat around so there is a single layer of meat. Place the jelly roll pan on the lower middle rack of the oven and broil until the top of the meat is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Take the pan out and flip the pieces of meat over. Then broil the other side until well browned and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Serve immediately in a tortilla with all your favorite toppings.