Mexican Coca Cola Carnitas!
Mexican coca cola adds beautiful color and a touch of sweetness to these taqueria-style pork carnitas!
Servings 6 Servings
Ingredients
- 3 pounds pork shoulder
- 5 cups pork lard manteca(rendered pork fat)
- Salt and fresh cracked pepper
- 1 cup Mexican brand Coca Cola
- 1 inch piece of Mexican canela
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
Instructions
- Slice the pork into 2 inch chunks. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Heat the pork fat to medium heat in a medium heavy pot. After about 5 minutes, add the seasoned pork. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until pork is lightly browned.
- Add in the coke, canela, bay leaves and thyme. The carnitas will cook for the next 90 minutes to 2 hours and a steady boil. Skim the top as needed as it cooks.
- At about the 2 hour mark, the carnitas will be this nice caramelized color and should pull apart easily with a fork. Drain onto paper towels. For a crispy carnita, transfer carnitas to a nonstick pan with no oil. Heat on high and toss carnitas as needed. Serve right away.
Notes
Crockpot Pork Carnitas
3 lbs. pork butt/shoulder or boneless country style ribs, sliced
2 tsps salt
2 tsps pepper
Season the pork with salt and pepper, then set aside
In the crockpot on low heat add
2 cups natural rendered pork lard
1 large orange sliced
8-10 garlic cloves
3-5 bay leaves
1 1/2 tsps oregano
Juice of 1 large lime
1 inch piece of cinnamon stick, optional
Add the lard to the crockpot on high heat. Once lard melts, turn heat to low. Add all of the ingredients in layers with the seasoned pork. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. After 4 hours, check the pork for tenderness. If tender, remove pork from the crockpot and transfer to a large skillet. Heat to medium high. Once the pork starts to sizzle and brown, you can drizzle in a little of the pork lard remaining in the crockpot. Turn the pork as needed until desired browning and caramelizing. Serve right away. Strain the lard in the crockpot and store refrigerated. You can reuse it for carnitas or you can use it to prepare masa for tamales.