I have been craving for Mexican carnitas for quite some time. When I used to live in San Francisco, I would eat at this Mexican restaurant once a week. Their carnitas was amazing!
What I liked about this carnitas recipe is that I did 2 different meals: tacos and a pulled pork sandwich for next day.
Spoiler alert: you need a slow cooker. Also, I didn’t have pork shoulder like in the original recipe (link here), I used sirloin and it turned out really good. I used regular Coke, as I couldn’t find the Mexican one (yes, they are different). I didn’t use the orange, since wasn’t sure how that will taste…
Ingredients
2 pork sirloin
3-4 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 large onion, cut into wedges
8 cloves garlic, cut in large pieces
2 limes, juiced
3/4 cup coke (Mexican coke is ideal)
2 bay leaves
For tacos:
tacos shells
fresh cilantro
1 onion finely chopped
sour cream
other toppings…
Instructions
Rinse and pat dry the pork with a paper towel.
In the bowl of the slow cooker add pork, salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, onion, garlic, lime juice, coke and bay leaves.
Cover and cook on low heat setting for 8-10 hours, or high heat for 5-6 hours (until the meat falls apart).
Remove pork and shred with 2 forks (do not discard the liquid).
To crisp in the oven:
Transfer the pork to a baking sheet (lined with aluminum foil). Pour 1 ladle full (about 1 cup) of the liquid from the slow cooker over the pork to season. Broil for 5-10 minutes on high heat, until the meat becomes golden browned and crispy on the edges.
Bon appetit.
My journey in the kitchen 