Mexican Pork Carnitas Tacos

Want to make a recipe that your family will ask for again and again? Take a traditional Mexican dish and make it easy by throwing it in the slow cooker and forgetting about it. No, really! Carnitas is a slow roasted pork, shredded and thrown on a nice, hot tortilla. My abuela, that's grandma in Spanish, taught my mom who taught me. Measuring ingredients was eyeballed and in the palm of your hand. So there's something very ethereal about cooking with your hands, even turning the tortillas on the hot comal with your fingertips. The key seasonings, spices and flavorings for me growing up were definitely the oranges, onion and oregano on my carnitas. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do and they become part of your regular dinner rotation. Buen provecho!

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless pork butt, fat trimmed

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large orange

¼ white onion 

5 cloves garlic, smashed

5 dried bay leaves

4 teaspoons Lawry's seasoning salt

2 teaspoons Mexican dried oregano

1 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon cumin

Serve with:

Corn tortillas

Diced white onion

Cilantro 

Red cabbage, thinly sliced 

Lime wedges

Salsa of your choice

Supplies: 

Knife

Cutting board

Measuring spoons

Tongs

Large skillet

Slow cooker

Mesh strainer

Fat separator 

Directions:

Trim most of the big pieces of fat from pork butt. Some fat will be marbled throughout and doesn't need to be trimmed. It will yield flavorful lard. Cut white onion into wedges. Cut orange into slices, leaving peel on. Peel garlic and smash with the flat side of the knife.

In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil on medium heat, add pork butt and sear on both sides, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes per side. Turn slow cooker on to high heat. Move seared pork, oil, and any juices into slow cooker. Season all sides of the pork with seasoned salt, salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano. Arrange onion wedges, and smashed garlic around meat. Lay orange slices on top and bay leaves last. Use any extra seasoning over oranges. 

Arranged seasonings and toppings in slow cooker.

After cooking 2 hours.

After cooking 3 hours.

Cook on high 4 to 5 hours until meat is tender and shreds easily. Shred meat using a fork. Pour juices and meat broth over a strainer into a fat separator. Pour off fat and retain 1/4 cup juices.

Strain broth

Heat a large skillet in medium heat and add the shredded meat and any onion and garlic you can pick out into a large skillet and add ¼ cup of broth. Some of the orange may end up with the meat and that is okay. Just try to avoid adding any peel. Spread meat into an even layer, cook stirring occasionally until you have some crispy edges. Serve with tortillas and toppings!

Grab as much of the onion and garlic as you can. Leave behind the orange and bay leaves.

Tips:

The slow cooker method is my set it and forget it method. You can also make this in the oven after searing the pork in the skillet on the stove top, move to an oven safe baking dish, arrange and season as mentioned above. Cover with foil and cook at 375 degrees for about an hour. Instead of cooking the meat in additional lard, which is more of a traditional way my grandma would have done, the fat marbled through will render and create a scrumptious broth and save a few calories.