Pork tacos aka carnitas
Mmmmmmm, tacos. I’ll never be a vegetarian because I love pork shoulder too much. Salty, fatty pork is just the best. When we make it, we go big (as in lots of pork). Then we eat it for four days straight, feel disgusted with ourselves, and take a break for a month or two until we can’t resist any longer and repeat the cycle again. Tonight’s dinner was delicious and indulgent; we all ate too much pork. I’m sitting here uncomfortably as I type this.
Tonight’s takes:
Husband: “I can’t stop snacking on this pork.” 30 minutes later: “Ugh. I ate too many tacos.”
Helen (5 1/2 years old): “One thumbs up. Not to be mean…” I’m guessing she’s insinuating it wasn’t worth two thumbs up. 🤷♀️
Hector (3 years old): “Good job mama!” 👍 He literally gave me a thumbs up at the table. His one thumbs up is satisfied approval (unlike Helen apparently).
What I used:
2 pork shoulders (a pack from Costco)
1 cup salt + 1 tsp
1 cups sugar + 1 tsp
1 purple onion
1/2 lime
White wine vinegar
Corn tortillas
Guacamole
Tortilla chips
Green beans
What I did:
Last night placed pork shoulders in large Dutch oven. Coated with 1 cup of salt and 1 cup sugar. Made sure pork was coated all over. Put lid on and placed in fridge overnight.
This morning (around 10am) removed pork from fridge, poured off liquid, rinsed pork shoulders off (so they wouldn’t be too salty) and returned to Dutch oven.
Roasted pork in Dutch oven with lid on at 325°F for 6 hours. Made sure to baste every 20-30 minutes.
Once pork was oh so tender, drained off excess fat and cut off fat chunks that hadn’t melted into the meat.
Pulled pork apart and mixed with extra juices in the pan. Let sit with lid on until dinner.
PK helped out a bunch with this so I didn’t get many photos. Here’s what the pork looked like at the end:
Here’s how much fat came off the two shoulders:
PK prepped the onions: Sliced onion, added juice of 1/2 lime and enough vinegar to just cover the onions. Mixed in 1 tsp more of both salt and sugar. Let sit for an hour before serving.
Prepped the tortillas: Removed them from the bag, put them in a wet tea towel. Placed tea towel + tortillas in warm oven for 20 minutes. If I had a microwave, I would have just zapped them in there.
Boiled green beans. I’m not a heathen - I made sure we had a little veg on the table.
Served with other sides - guacamole and chips.
Done!
Next time:
The salt + sugar brine is the best method I’ve found for cooking pork shoulder. It’s one of the techniques that I stick to and don’t mess with. Next time I might have different toppings depending on what’s in my fridge, but I always have the foundation: corn tortillas, pork shoulder, pickled onions.
Make this this weekend. You deserve it.
😋😋😋
-Ellisa