Carnitas pork

One of my favourite pleasures in life is when I’m thousands of miles from home and pop something into my mouth that I know I’ll never forget. Time somehow stops while the taste buds explode. That moment…

This recipe comes from a particular moment in a little surf town in southern Mexico during the mid noughties. A café on the coast. No English spoken, no frills, no rush, just mindblowingly good carnitas.

I don’t even know the name of the tiny, stand-alone hut in the middle of this hippy beach. For all I know, it could be littered with coffee places and pilates classes by now. But that flavour stuck with me and I’ve dedicated much time to replicating it! On my quest, I found a few recipes that suggest not to brown the meat before braising, so I've gone with this flow. It also makes for one of the simplest “pop it all in a pot” recipes I’ve ever come up with.

To be served in burritos, mini tacos, over rice, with guacamole, black beans, onions, peppers, sour cream… however you like.

Absolutely lip-smackingly delicious.

Serves: Family of 4 plus leftovers

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 5 hours (of doing absolutely nothing)

Ingredients

1kg skinless pork shoulder (diced into chunky cubes)

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp chipotle chilli flakes/paste/powder

2 tsp dried oregano

1.5 tsp salt

3 cloves garlic (crushed and chopped)

1 bay leaf

500ml chicken or veggie stock

150ml orange juice

Method

Try not to get your knickers in a twist over how little there is to it…

Put everything into a large, oven-suitable pot. Set the oven to 130’c, pop a lid on and let it sit in the oven for 4-5 hours.

Grab a pair of tongs or a fork (even a spoon will do - that’s how tender it’ll be) and press on the meat until it falls apart under the pressure. Stir it through the juices, taste for seasoning and place it back in the oven, uncovered, for half an hour or until you’re ready to serve. As you serve each spoonful of the pork, it should be wet and dripping with the juicy liquor.

Serve with guacamole, rice, black beans, onions, peppers, coriander, chillies, lime, sour cream… the full works.

TIPS

  • Ask your butcher to dice the pork shoulder so that there’s nothing to do other than measure out the other ingredients.

  • Whole, bone-in shoulder obviously works great, but I find the chunky, diced meat absorbs all of the flavours and juices more evenly.

  • Dry toast your cumin seeds for a minute in a small pan before crushing them in a pestle and mortar if you have the time.

  • If you don’t have cumin seeds in the cupboard, use ground cumin.

  • If you like it HOT… up the chipotle dosage or even add some chopped up fresh chillies to the pot for the last hour.