Carnitas Tacos
Savor tender, slow-cooked carnitas in warm tortillas, bursting with zesty flavor and topped to perfection!
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg pork shoulder or pork belly
- 2 tbsp lard
- 2 onions
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2 oranges
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 lime
How to make it
- Trim the pork shoulder or pork belly into large 5 cm chunks and pat the pieces completely dry with paper towels. Stir the ground cumin, dried oregano and salt together, then rub the mixture all over the meat.
- Heat the lard in a heavy pot over medium heat. Brown the pork in batches on all sides until the surfaces are well sealed and golden, then transfer all the meat back to the pot.
- Peel and halve 1 onion and lightly crush the garlic cloves. Add them to the pot with the bay leaves and cook for 2 minutes, stirring the onions first so they soften before the garlic takes colour.
- Juice the oranges and pour the juice over the meat. Add enough water to barely come halfway up the pork, bring it to a lively simmer, then cover and cook on low heat for about 1 hour 30 minutes until the meat is tender.
- Uncover the pot and continue cooking until the liquid has reduced and the pork is sitting in the fat. Turn the heat up briefly and let the edges sizzle until some pieces are deep golden and crisp.
- Remove the pork from the pot and rest it for 5 minutes, then chop or shred it into chunky pieces. Spoon a little of the cooking fat over the meat so it stays glossy.
- Warm the corn tortillas in a dry pan until soft and lightly spotted. Finely chop the remaining onion and cilantro, and cut the lime into wedges.
- Fill each tortilla with carnitas and top with chopped onion and cilantro. Serve the tacos on a flat plate with lime wedges alongside.
