Dear Pork, I am in love with you.
Dear Pork,
You did it again. Just when I think I’m (almost) ready to be a vegetarian, you inspire me. It was a day not made for cooking. Sunny and hot (like actually hot!), I had to spend the day at the beach, burning to a crisp. I returned home red and tender, not far from resembling a piece of jerky, and didn’t really look forward to turning on the stove. But there you were, so pink and porky. I didn’t want to slice you up.
But I had guests arriving. And I wanted tacos. Carnitas tacos. So into a pot you went, with some orange juice, orange peels, mexican coke, water and garlic.
You boiled for a while as I thought up ways to serve you. First we needed tortillas. Props to Pantea for dominating the tortilla press. Tortillas for 11 is no small task. But for you, pork, anything.
She made a lovely stack.
And there was a watermelon chilling on the counter, so we made agua fresca.
And then we caramelized some onions.
And marinated some radishes in lime juice and pepper.
And you just kept boiling.
While we roasted some tomatillos for salsa roja. For YOU, pork. You.
And then you did the most amazing thing. All the water evaporated, and you were frying in your own fat. It was so beautiful. I almost wept with love.
But it was 10.30 and the guests were getting crazed. So I started frying up those fresh tortillas.
And when you were nice and caramelized, we all stared for a while, admiring your loveliness.
And then I ate you. I’ve never felt so close to a pig before.
Yours forever,
Brandi
CARNITAS RECIPE :
4 pounds pork shoulder, with fat intact
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
3/4 cup mexican coke (has real sugar not corn syrup)
5 garlic cloves, peeled
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
several orange peels
– Cut pork into 2-3 inch chunks. Combine everything in a large pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until pork is tender and fat is liquifying, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours, adding more water by 1/4 cupfuls if necessary to keep pork partially submerged.
– Uncover and boil pork mixture until the water evaporates and meat browns and begins to get crisp, stirring often.
– Cool meat slightly. Pull meat into bite sized chunks if necessary.
– Eat yourself silly.
I made that! 
this is the best blog post i have ever read in my entire life. carnitas tacos are my favorite thing of all time, and i never ever imagined they were realistically do-able at home. thanks so much for this!!!! 🙂
i am making the shit out of this recipe RIGHT NOW
95% chance of awesome
ooooh…tell me how it turns out!
Any substitutions for the Mexican Coke? Just use normal Coke and add some sugar? I’m in Australia with almost no chance of getting that. Thanks!
I guess I would just skip the coke altogether. Let me know how it turns out!
I didn’t have oranges so no orange peels went in, but it ended up tasting really awesome despite missing a couple ingredients. I’ll have to try it with the peel next time. Thanks for the recipe!
Greatest pork post EVER. Shredded pork soft tacos are my absolute fave! So glad I found this and your blog!
So, instead of using coke, do you think you could just brown sugar?
you could certainly try! I suspect the flavor might be a touch less complex, but I’d love to hear how it goes.
I am all over this recipe! Could you let me know just what you layered on the tacos.
Thanks for the carnitas….they are one of my favorites!
fwiw, this post was very, very inspirational! http://j.mp/iapHd7
Wow…I just made this yesterday. Easy and fantastic!
100% the best blog post ever. But then, I too, am in love with pork. After all, it is the gateway meat. No better way to tempt a vegetarian than with crisp bacon…well, unless it’s one of the above bad boys. Mmm.
Ok I made these – heaven. Really so good. I am so glad that I discovered your blog. Congrats on the Pantry. It sounds like it will be amazing.
We made these a few weeks ago. Believe it or not I couldnt find a bottle or can of Mexican Coke and we live in Phoenix, lol. Anyways I subsititued reg. Coke. The kids and I LOVED these. There are awesome, we had leftovers for days and I used some of the leftovers to make enchilades…YUMMY.
We are making them again for Cinco De Mayo on Thursday and I havent got the Mexican Coke but I did find out that Jones brand soda has a Cola and they sweeten ALL of their flavors with cane sugar, I’m looking forward to the Carnitas being even better this time around!!!
We’re making these RIGHT NOW. This recipe literally took 5 minutes to prepare. The house smells amazing and I can’t wait to eat eat eat these carnitas tomorrow and the next day and the next day!
OH! and instead of Mexican Coke, we substituted with Hansen’s cola (made with cane sugar).
Just made this! I was in France when I asked about brown sugar, but I am back in the states and found some Mexican coke. It was great to watch it transform from raw floating pork to lovely, caramel colored awesome. We copied your radishes and onions, and made a really simple salsa verde from one of Rick Bayless’s cookbooks. My god. I am so pleased, as are my lucky parents. Thanks!
[…] towards Christmas. All too bright, and sharp, and distracting; with its experimental cookies, and the best carnitas cooked and eaten in a cabin in the woods, and the final unraveling of a cake so booze-soaked it […]
Thanks for this pork’o’lishious recipe. I was comp,etly intimidated once I had all 5 pounds of pork in the pot, and it seem to never get past to the evaporated part…I do not think I reach the nirvana of caramelized pork, but it was a huge hit at my family dinner party today non the less. I also made the radish dish to go with it, and it was like peanut butter meeting chocolate form the first time…in other words , perfect.
I made these yesterday and they were fantastic. Both of my guests at dinner were originally from Mexico and they LOVED these! I was so proud and it was so easy to do. Going to make these over and over again!!!
Tried this last night, and it was great. It didn’t crisp for me after the liquid evaporated (maybe I just didn’t cook it long enough), and the orange peels sort of disintegrated into the mixture (I picked out the big pieces and the little ones were delicious all mixed in with the meat), but it was still really, really good.
In case anyone is curious, it took around 45 minutes, I think, for the liquid to all evaporate, and that was at a pretty violent boil.
This is my third time making this. I omitted the orange and it turned outlovely. Deep rich flavor. I’ve used pork twice and a fatty cut of beef. Always turns out fabulous.
Edit: I also put in 2-3 dried red chile pods for star flavor. It does take a looong time for the liquid to boil out. Usually 30 minutes then the fat renders. Then I shred the meat while its frying and cook for another 15-20 minutes until crispy. About 45 minutes or so to get to the crispy stage.