Carnitas to Die For!

This recipe is a variation of the Salsa Brava Cocina book's carnitas recipe. In the recipe, they advertise that the carnitas has a "hint of orange", but in their recipe book, there is no orange to be found. So I changed it up just a bit, and it's pretty darn good!

Great for tacos and burritos, carnitas is pretty much just shredded pork that's been slow-roasted. Carnitas is usually made from a "pork butt", which is actually a pork shoulder roast. For my recipe, I use a pork loin end. You get a lot more meat from a loin, instead of all the fat. I make mine in the slow cooker instead of the oven, so I add extra liquid to keep it moist since there isn't as much fat.

Carnitas
4 pounds pork butt (some of the fat removed) or loin end (as cut in previous post), cubed into 2-inch cubes
1 medium onion, quartered
5 large garlic cloves, skinned and coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp liquid smoke
1 cup orange juice
Zest from 1/2 an orange
1 cup water
Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Granulated sugar

Generally season pork with cumin, salt, pepper, and sugar. Place onion and garlic in bottom of slow cooker. Put pork on top of vegetables, fat side up. Combine orange juice, zest, liquid smoke, and water, then pour over pork. Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until pork easily shreds with a fork.

If you prefer to roast this in the oven, you can cut your liquids in half and put your pork on a grate in a roaster and cover with onion and garlic, then pour liquids over everything. Roast at 350 degrees for 2 hours with the lid on, then 1 hour with the lid off. The outside will get a little crispier than when cooked in a slow cooker.

Either way you make it, you should shred the meat with 2 forks, then incorporate a little bit of the cooking liquid back into the meat until it's nice and moist and juicy. Enjoy with tortillas and rice and beans, or make them into some tacos with cabbage and cheese!