Carnitas: Braised and Fried Pork

A couple years ago at an airport in Minneapolis I had the best Carnitas at a Mexican restaurant.  The pork had an amazing flavor and was cut in little pieces.  I finally found a recipe that mimics this dish quite well.  I tried it last week and it was a winner for our family.  My son said it was even better than the carnitas from the food truck in town!!

Carnitas:  Braised and Fried Pork

4 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 2 inch pieces
3 cups water
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/2 orange, cut into 2 pieces
8 garlic cloves, peeled
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp dried oregano, preferable Mexican, crumbled
2 tsp fine salt, or 4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 cup pork lard or vegetable oil


Put all the ingredients (except lard or oil) in a wide 6-7 quart heavy pot (don't worry if the pork is not completely covered) and bring the water to a boil, skimming the surface as necessary.  Lower the heat and simmer vigorously, stirring occasionally, until the pork is fork-tender and the liquid has completely evaporated, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Discard the orange pieces and bay leaves.  If the liquid hasn't evaporated after 2 hours, transfer the pork pieces to a bowl and let the liquid continue to bubble away, stirring often, until it has. 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Cut the pork into small pieces if possible and transfer the pork and fat to an ovenproof dish, if necessary, and brown the pork, uncovered, in the oven for 20-30 minutes.  There's no need to stir.

Carnitas keep in the refrigerator for up to three days.

The perfect carnitas can be made with small corn tortillas (softened in microwave, or pan on stovetop), the pork, chopped onions,  crumbled cotija cheese and chopped cilantro.  Yum..........