Beer Braised Carnitas Tacos Recipes

AUTHENTIC BEER BRAISED CARNITAS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trim roast and slice into 1/4 inch thick pieces. Preheat a large dutch oven or oven safe pot over high heat. Add in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and sear meat, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Combine spices and sprinkle over pork. Pour beer over meat and spices. Top with orange slices.
• Braise in the 350 degree oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours until the meat can easily be shredded with a fork. Remove orange slices. Shred meat.
• Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Work in 3 batches and use tongs to place the meat into the oil and saute until crisp, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add in more oil for each batch. Serve hot.

BEER-BRAISED CARNITAS TACOS

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Heat a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat (I use a 5 qt le creuset) and add the lard to the pot. Season the pork chunks liberally with salt and pepper.
• Place pieces of pork in the pan and brown on all sides. Add sliced onion, oranges, and garlic cloves to the pot and arrange around the pieces of pork. Then, add cumin, bay leaf, and dried chilies. Add beer and sprinkle the salt all over. If there is not enough liquid to come 3/4 of the way up the pork (we don't want to cover it), add a little water. Bring to a simmer and then remove from the heat and cover.
• Place in the oven and cook for 3 hours, until almost fork tender. Remove lid and cook for 1 hour more, or until tender enough to be pulled apart with a fork. Remove pot from oven and let the pork cool to room temperature. Re-cover, place in the fridge and allow to chill overnight.
• Before serving, pull the pork from the liquid and roughly shred it into pieces, discarding large pieces of fat. Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high heat and add the pork to the pan until crispy on one side and golden brown. Season with extra salt as needed and serve on tortillas with pickled onions, salsa verde, and cilantro with some lime wedges on the side.
• To make the salsa verde: preheat an oven to 400 degrees F. Toss the tomatillo wedges, onion, serrano, and garlic with neutral oil and lightly season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, or until the tomatillos are starting to burst. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. Transfer the contents of the sheet pan to a blender with any juices. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

BEER-BRAISED CARNITAS

Steps:

• Nestle the onions around the seared pork shoulder. Sprinkle the orange zest, lime zest, ground cumin, & dried oregano over top. Place the bay leaves over top. Pour the orange juice, lime juice, & beer into the pot. Return to high heat to bring the pot to a boil. Reduce heat to low to maintain a steady simmer. Cover & simmer for 3-4 hours, until the carnitas are fall-apart tender.