Slow cooked until fall-apart tender, then crisped to perfection, these pork carnitas are packed with flavor and finished with a bold jalapeño avocado salsa. This taco night favorite is one worth repeating!
INGREDIENTS
(serves 6-8)
4-lb pork shoulder/butt
2 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 jalapeño, deseeded, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
juice of 2 oranges
for the rub
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1 Tablespoon olive oil
for the jalapeño avocado salsa
(makes 2 cups)
2 Tablespoons avocado oil
1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
2 limes, juiced
1 large or 2 small avocados, ripe
½ large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 ½ teaspoons chicken bouillon
4-6 large jalapeños, fresh, deseeded and quartered
½ cup water
salt and pepper to taste
for serving
street taco tortillas (flour or corn)
pico
sliced jalapeños, fresh or jarred
purple onion, diced
cilantro
jalapeño avocado salsa (recipe follows)
METHOD
pork
Pat the pork dry, sprinkle all over with salt and pepper. Mix rub ingredients then coat pork. Place pork fat cap on top in a large crock pot. Add onion, jalapeño, garlic, juice from the oranges. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 7 hours. Pork should be fork tender and easy to pull. Remove from crock pot, place in large dish. Let cool slightly and shred pork using two forks. Skim fat off juice, discard, then keep 1-2 cups of juice. Strain juice, discard remnants.
jalapeño avocado salsa
Add avocado oil to a large skillet. Over medium-high heat, add onions, garlic, and jalapeños. Sauté until charred on all sides. Don’t skip charring the vegetables! Place all in a blender. Once cool, add avocado, cilantro, lime juice, water, chicken bouillon and salt and pepper. Blend until a smooth consistency is reached. Pour into serving dish, set aside.
crisping the pork
Add 1 Tablespoon of oil to a large non-stick skillet over high heat. Add some of the pork to the skillet in an even layer, don’t crowd the pork. Drizzle over a small amount of the reserved juice. Once the juice has cooked out and bottom of pork is crispy, flip and crisp the other side slightly. Transfer to serving dish – finish other batches. In the same skillet, over medium-high heat, briefly crisp your tortillas on each side. Serve immediately.
Find more delicious recipes at DoSouthMagazine.com.
