Pork Carnitas
I won't lie: this is not the easiest or quickest recipe I have ever tried, but I can assure you the trickiest part is gathering the ingredients at the supermarket. The result will make you forget all your efforts.
INGREDIENTS (serves 4) :
Rub ingredients:
500 g pork shoulder
1 tsp cumin, ground
1 tsp sweet paprika powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Pork ingredients:
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1/2 fresh chilli
2 white or red onions, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
2 limes juice and grated zest
1 orange
200 ml beer
1 tbsp honey
Else:
150 g grated cheddar
150 g Cheesy Nacho Dip
250 g nachos
100 g black olive rings
2 avocados, diced
fresh jalapeño/chilli pepper, thinly sliced
125 ml sour cream
2 tbsp coriander leaves
Pico de Gallo (see recipe below)
PICO DE GALLO
Ingredients (makes 300 g)
2 tomatoes
1/2 chilli pepper
1/2 red onion
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 170C
2. Combine the rub ingredients: Mix the cumin, paprika, chilli powder, salt and black pepper well. Rub the pork shoulder all over with the spice mixture. Put it aside until…
3. you prepare everything else you need for the pork. (peel the onions, grind the lime…and so on) and line them up on your kitchen counter.
4. Heat the sunflower oil in an oven-proof pan and fry all sides of the pork on high heat for 2-2 minutes then remove the meat from the pan and put it aside.
5. Add the red onions to the remaining oil and cook for 5 mins, stirring occasionally until softened and caramelised. Add the crushed garlic, along with the oregano, fresh chilli and bay leaves cook for about a minute. Pour in the juice and the zest of the limes, the orange juice and the tomato puree. Stir in the honey, and the beer and continue to cook for about 3-5 mins. Put the pork back into the pan and bring the sauce to boil, then cover tightly with aluminium foil and put it into the oven for about 2 hours. Remove the foil after an hour, then roast the pork for a further 1 hour uncovered until the meat is completely tender and falling apart. Add more water if the liquid dries out too much. You should end up with 1 1/2 to 2 cups of liquid when it finishes cooking.
6. Meanwhile prepare the Pico Gallo: Cut the tomatoes into small blocks. Remove the stem, seeds and ribs from the jalapeño/chilli pepper and cut the flesh into small cubes. Mix with the diced tomatoes and other ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
7. Serving: Divide the nachos over a large dish. Pull the pork apart with forks and divide the meat over the nachos, garnish with olive rings, avocado cubes, jalapeño/chilli rings, Pico de Gallo, sour cream, coriander leaves, cheddar and the cheesy dip. Or let your guests combine them. :-) Enjoy!
reminder for myself: Magere Hamlap
