Pork Tacos (Carnitas)

A simple pork taco recipe that's very similar to Carnitas.

Ingredients Directions

  • Pork shoulder / country ribs
  • Orange juice
  • Lime juice
  • Paprika
  • Cumin
  • Salt
  • Water
  • Oregano
  • Diced onion and cilantro for garnish

  1. Cut the pork into roughly 1 inch cubes
  2. Add all ingredients, except the oregano in a heavy pot like a dutch oven and cook on low for 2 1/2 to 3 hours
  3. Add the oregano late in the cooking to keep it from from being obliterated
  4. Remove the lid, adjust heat to medium, and cook most of the liquid off
  5. Stir every minute or so once most of the water has evaporated, the remaining sugar from the orange juice will burn if left too long
  6. Serve in corn tortillas with diced onion and cilantro

Notes

I think the real thing probably calls for sour orange, the mix of normal sweet orange juice and lime juice make the subsitute.

Keep large chunks of fat as their own cube so that they may render and what remains may be pulled out after cooking. You want some fat left in the dish or it just sucks.

Some versions call for placing the cooked pork under a broiler to crisp up, I don't find that very necessary with this version.

This reheats as leftovers very well. Place desired portion into a bowl with a splash of water or orange juice and a couple of tsp of pork fat (I keep some rendered bacon fat in the fridge). Cover and microwave a short amount of time, let sit and then stir. Then microwave a short time just before serving.


Original Recipe

recipes/pork_tacos_carnitas.txt · Last modified: 2021/06/19 14:32 (external edit)