Pork Carnitas

This carnitas recipes is from my friend Frank. I begged him for it after he served these for dinner. The recipe is easy, but by easy I mean it's very simple to do. It does require some amount of work, so you'd probably have to enjoy cooking to an extent. However, the process can be spread out over 2 days, so it's really not that bad.

6-7 lb Boneless Pork Shoulder, also called a Boston Butt (mine was actually 8 lbs)
3 c Water
¾ c Orange Juice
2 T Tamarind Paste
½ c Cane Syrup
2 T Fresh Cumin Seeds, toasted and ground (I just used cumin out of my spice jar)
6 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 T Salt
2 T Olive Oil



Remove excess fat from the pork. Put the pork in a large Dutch Oven or Crock Pot and add the water. Cook it for 5-6 hours (at 325 for your Dutch oven, or just on your counter in your crock pot) until it falls apart when you stick a fork in it. Set it out on the counter (or in some container to keep animals from eating it) and let it cool. When it is touchable, pull it apart, into bite size pieces, removing the bone and all the extra fat and nasty parts. At this point you could put it in the fridge overnight and continue the recipe tomorrow.

Next (or in the morning) combine all the other ingredients in bowl and whisk together. The mixture should emulsify a little. Toss the meat with the marinade and place in the refrigerator for a few hours. (I just put it in the marinade before I left for work one morning, and left it all day until I was ready to cook it that night).

Heat your oven to 375F, place the marinated pork on a baking sheet or roasting pan (I used a large Pyrex casserole dish) and put it into the oven. Allow the meat to crisp for about 30 to 45 minutes. Keep an eye on the on it as the sugar in the cane syrup can burn easily. I just made a point of stirring it up every 10 or 15 minutes.


Serve with whatever you like, but it's easy to just make fajitas with it, so consider tortillas, pico de gallo, sour cream, cheese, etc. When I first had this it was served with tortillas, avocado, lime wedges, and cilantro.


It's super yummy delicious.

And this is what you'll have by the end of the night