One of the things on my to do list for cooking is to make carnitas. After all, I really like Chipotle's carnitas soft tacos; and I wanted to make it for myself and more for my tastes. So, I googled carnitas recipes and did not find one that I liked or wanted to do. The traditional carnitas recipes call for braising/cooking the pork in lard; however, I have too much "lard" around my waist and I did not want to add to it. In the end, took a couple of recipes and added my own twists.
One twist was to use a four-pepper rub (native nambe, hatch red, ancho and chipotle) which added a kick to the pork. The second twist was to braise the pork in not only chicken stock and broth, but also beer. The combination of spicy peppers and beer turns the pork into something I call a Cerdo Loco, or "crazy pig" style. It is a spicy version of carnitas and you have to be a little crazy to eat it.
And, as always, feel free to modify the herbs and spices to your liking.
CARNITAS, CERDO LOCO STYLE
A Chef Bolek Original
Ingredients (for the pork shoulder):
1 Pork Shoulder, either Boston Butt or Picnic
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup chicken broth
2 12oz bottles of beer (your choice, I think a lager works well)
4 bay leaves
Ingredients (for the rub):
2 Teaspoons of kosher salt.
1 Tablespoon of paprika
1 Teaspoon of native nambe pepper (or any other spicy, hot pepper)
1 Teaspoon of red hatch pepper (or a slightly less spicy pepper)
1 Tablespoon of ancho chili pepper (I used one whole pod, ground using a coffee grinder)
1 Tablespoon of chipotle chilli pepper (I used 4-5 pods, ground using a coffee grinder)
1 Tablespoon of garlic powder
1 Tablespoon of cardamom
1 Tablespoon of dried oregano2 Teaspoons of dried thyme
1 Teaspoon dried coriander
Directions:
1. Mix all of the rub ingredients together and apply liberally to the pork. Wrap up pork with plastic wrap and put in refrigerator for at least a couple of hours.
2. Put the pork in a large pot (I used an 8 quart braiser) and add the stock, broth and beer.
3. Turn the heat to medium until the liquid boils, then reduce to low.
4. Cook for a really long time as much as six hours or until the meat falls of the bone and shreds easily.
5. Shred meat with two forks.
I usually serve it with soft tacos, garnished with a basic salsa (tomato, onion, cilantro and lemon/lime juice), some greens and a cheese (such as, in this case, Manchego).
ENJOY!
