Pork Carnitas

An incredibly easy three-ingredient recipes for melt-in-your-mouth shredded pork

There's a great butcher at the L.A. Farmers Market that always has low prices on large cuts of meat and I always make an effort to go there when I'm in the area. This weekend we saw a late morning movie at The Grove and stopped by the butcher on the way home for the pork to make these carnitas. I got over five pounds of pork shoulder for less than fifteen bucks and its going to last me the whole week for leftovers. Cooking the meat couldn't be easier but yields tons of rich pork flavor from roasting in its own juices and fat. Since I wanted the carnitas to really shine, I served it simply with some tortillas, lime, and pickled red onions.


Pork Carnitas:

• Have your butcher cut 5 lbs. of bone-in pork shoulder into 2" thick slabs,* then cut each slab in half.
• Place the pork in a large baking dish in one layer and season all sides generously with kosher salt.
• Pour 1/3 c. water over the meat and tightly cover the dish with foil and place in a 375F oven.
• Cook the pork for 65 minutes, then increase the oven temperature to 450F and remove the foil from the top.
• Roast the pork for another 40 minutes, or until the water has evaporated and only the fat is left in the pan.**
• Carefully turn the pork*** and roast for another 15 minutes, or until golden on top.
• Transfer the pork to a plate and let cool for 15 minutes, then shred and discard the bones and any large pieces of fat.

Serves eight-ten

*I had two slabs total.

**If a lot of fat is left, you can drain some of it out.

***Be careful not to break it up too much, it will be falling off the bone.