Carnitas Recipe
This Mexican Carnitas Recipe of seasoned pork is slow-fried in lard with spices, oranges, limes, and onions until tender and flavorful.
Ingredients
- 3 ½ pound bone-in pork shoulder, cut onto large 1 pound chunks
- 1 rack St. Louis sparerib, cut into 3 to 4 bone pieces
- 2 12 ” x 6” fresh pork skin cueritos, , optional
- 4 pounds of lard
- 1 peeled yellow onion cut into quarters
- 8 garlic cloves
- 2 oranges and juice
- 2 limes and juice
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons dry oregano
- 2 tablespoons dry thyme
- 12 ounce can evaporated milk
- lime juice to taste
- coarse salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut the pork shoulder into roughly 1-pound pieces. Cut the ribs into 3-4 bone chinks.
- Place them on a rack over a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Generously season the pork on all sides with salt. You’ll most likely use 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for 4 to 48 hours.
- Take the pork from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature to take the chill off.
- In the meantime, heat the lard in a large 2 ½ to 3-gallon rondeau or pot over medium heat until it reaches 325°.
- Add in the pork shoulder and cook while constantly stirring for 30 minutes.
- Next, add in the ribs and cook for an additional 30 minutes while constantly stirring.
- While the pork is cooking, add the oregano, thyme, and bay leaves to a piece of cheesecloth and tie it tight with butcher’s twine to make a sachet de spice.
- Once the ribs have been in the oil for 30 minutes, add onions, garlic, orange juice and oranges, lime juice and limes, sachet, salt, and evaporated milk. Stir everything together.
- If you have the pork skin, lay the dried cuerito over top and cook for 50 to 60 minutes while stirring everything, every 4 to 5 minutes so that nothing gets stuck.
- The pork should be at least 190° internally and can reach 205° if you like it shredded.
- Remove the pork pieces from the lard, set aside on a rack over a sheet tray, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Remove any bones and cut the pork down to bitesize pieces.
- Toss it with lime juice and salt, and serve it with additional limes, or in carnitas tacos.
Notes
Make-Ahead: You can make this up to 30 minutes ahead of time. Keep it warm in the oven, covered in foil, at low temperatures (200°) until it’s ready to be served.
How to Store: Cover and keep it in the refrigerator for five days. You can freeze this covered for up to 3 months. Thaw the carnitas in the refrigerator until thawed before reheating.
How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of pork carnitas to a medium-sized pan with 2 to 3 tablespoons of water and heat over low heat until warm.
You can leave the bones on the cuts of pork, no problem.
After 20 minutes of cooking, fond will collect on the bottom of the pot, even in the lard. I use the same technique when searing protein: I take the pork shoulder and ribs chunks and move them around the bottom of the pan to help create a darker, more flavorful Maillard crust.
If you use pig skin, I like to soak it in water with a little bit of salt 60 minutes before cooking it. This can help remove any impurities and soften them as well. Right before cooking it, I take it out of the water and give it a quick dry on paper towels.
The heat of the lard will naturally come down with the cold pork and will hang around 250° to 275°, which is perfect for a long cook in fat.
The milk's calcium softens the pork protein by reacting with the enzymes.
When the oil cools, strain it through a coffee filter, label it, and store it in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks. If it isn’t dark, you can use it for 3 to 4 more deep fries or as the cooking fat in your other recipes.
Nutrition
Calories: 638kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 24gFat: 57gSaturated Fat: 42gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 143mgPotassium: 560mgFiber: 2gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 239IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 148mgIron: 2mg