Community Pick
The Best Ever Carnitas
"This is an adopted recipe from Mean Chef. This looks really great to me and can't wait to try it, as I really enjoy Carnitas. Mean Chef word's are:
The special ingredient is Pepsi and this is fabulous. you can use carnitas in tortillas, serve like BBQ pork or great at a picinic on rolls. Recipe from Rio Bravo"
photo by Chef Itchy Monkey
- Ready In:
- 2hrs 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 21
- Serves:
-
6-8
ingredients
- 3 lbs pork butt or 3 lbs pork shoulder
- 1 orange, quartered
- 1 teaspoon garlic, chopped
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup Pepsi, plus
- more Pepsi, as needed
- 3⁄4 cup oil or 3/4 cup shortening
-
Fuego spice mix yields 1 cup use 1T
- 1⁄4 cup paprika
- 2 teaspoons cayenne
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 teaspoons white pepper
- 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons garlic granules
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons oregano
-
Agua Negra Marinade yields 3 1/4 cups use 1 cup
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 2 cups pineapple juice
- 2 tablespoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 1⁄4 cup fresh lime juice
directions
- Fuego spice mix (recipe# 66927): Combine all ingredients, mixing well.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
- Agua Negra Marinade (recipe# 66927): combine all ingredients with a whisk.
- Stores in the refrigerator for 2 days.
- Carnitas: Trim away excess fat from pork and cut into 3 inch cubes.
- Dust meat with Fuego spice mix and press to adhere well.
- Squeeze juice from oranges into an airtight nonreactive container, add peels, garlic,pepper, pepsi and Aqua Negra marinade- mix to combine well.
- Add seasoned meat and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove meat from the marinade (reserve marinade) the next day when you are ready to cook.
- Heat oil/shortening in a large heavy skillet over high heat until fat is smoking; add pork and brown completely on all sides- about 15 minutes.
- Add reserved marinade and simmer for about 2 hours or until pork is tender and dark brown- add additional Pepsi as needed while cooking to keep meat covered.
- Remove meat and chop into 3/4 inch pieces.
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Reviews
-
This was very good...and I had so much meat left I cleaned it the following day (wearing Nitrile gloves makes this much quicker, easier and efficient...and less yucky!). I took some of the congealed broth, and a pan and heated it up in the skillet until the meat was brown and crispy. It just went from very good to frickin' awesome! I highly recommend this as a make ahead and heat it up in a skillet...wow! -
I was a little skeptical on this recipe, as the ingredients didn't sound right--pineapple juice and soy sauce for carnitas? However, I tried it because I love Mean Chef's recipes. I'm so glad I did! One thing to note when you make this is that the marinade and fuego spice mix actually make WAY more than you need for the 3 lbs of pork. Next time I make this, I plan to use 8-9 lbs of meat & triple the other ingredients in the FIRST section of the recipe so I don't waste anything (and have lots of yummy leftovers to freeze). I also don't plan to coat the meat pieces with seasoning before I marinate. I plan to add most of the spices (reserving some) to the Aqua Negra marinade. Coating them seemed like a waste of time since immediately you throw them in liquid. I will use some of the reserved spices to throw in the oil when I fry the pork before cooking. I HIGHLY recommend this recipe. The layering of flavors is fabulous! -
Excellent recipe. I didn't have pineapple so I substitutued with orange juice. After marinating overnight, I mixed the seasonings in a bag and coated the meat, then fried. I added the fried meat to the crock pot, added the remaining marinade to the pan and scraped up the brown bits. Let this simmer and reduce for about 5 minutes then added it to the crock pot along with enough Pepsi to cover the meat. Cook on low for 8 hours then shredded and served in tortillas with cabbage, cheese, cilantro, and avocado...excellent flavor! -
It was ok. A bit too spicy. Once I saw the ingredients I knew you would not get authentic carnitas and I was right. -
This was very good and real easy to make.
see 23 more reviews
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Sheri-bdb
Seattle, Washington
I grew up in California and now live in Seattle Washington,and I really love it here! I've been cooking since I was about 10 and still enjoy cooking till this day. I don't really have a favorite food as I enjoy many different dishes. I do really enjoy cooking on a smoker, the taste is out of this world. I also enjoy barbecue, Italian, Mexican and Chinese just to name a few. As you will notice I also enjoy taking pictures of dishes I make, there's nothing like getting that great shot. Thank you for stopping in, I hope you enjoy my site!
