Big Batch Carnitas
What You Need
Ingredients
Preparation
Carnitas are one of Mexico’s most loved dishes—and for good reason. Pork shoulder (or pork butt) is cooked slowly in its own fat until meltingly tender. You can pile it on tacos, serve over rice, or fold into a breakfast burrito. Every cook has their own twist on the braising liquid. Here, we use classic Coca-Cola—the natural sugars in the soda help the pork get a nice caramelized crust in the oven. This recipe is meant to feed a large crowd, but the leftovers also freeze nicely.
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Make the Carnitas. Preheat oven to 325° F/160° C. In a HexClad 8QT/8L Hybrid Stock Pot, combine pork shoulder with pork lard, Coca-Cola, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, and 1½ tablespoons of salt. Juice limes and orange into pot and toss in spent orange halves—discard spent limes halves. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until lard begins to melt, about 5 minutes.
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Cover pot and transfer to oven. Roast carnitas for about 2 hours, stirring once halfway through cooking, or until meat is easily shreddable. Alternatively, simmer carnitas over moderately-low heat for about 2 hours, raising or lowering heat as needed. Discard onion and orange halves. Let pork cool slightly, then use two forks to shred into bite-size pieces. Keep warm until ready to serve.
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Meanwhile, Make the Salsa. In a blender, combine tomatillos with serranos, garlic, onion, cilantro, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Puree until finely chopped. Add avocado and pulse a few more times until incorporated and salsa is slightly chunky. Season with more salt, if needed. You should have about 3 cups of salsa.
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To serve, heat a HexClad 12in/30cm Hybrid Fry Pan over medium-high heat. Add the amount of pork you would like to serve and sear meat until it is crispy and browned in spots, about 5 minutes. (If serving all of the carnitas, then do this in two to three batches.) Turn pork and sear for about 2 minutes more.
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Serve crispy carnitas with warm corn tortillas and green salsa, passing additional cilantro, finely chopped white onion, and lime wedges on the side.
MAKE AHEAD Carnitas can be prepared through step 2 and refrigerated for up to 1 week in the braising liquid. Let cool completely before transferring to the refrigerator. When ready to serve, reheat pork in the fry pan.
