Tijerina’s Carnitas

Tijerina’s Carnitas

Yield:  4-6 Servings

Ingredients

4.5-5 lb bone-in pork shoulder
2 tablespoons Tijerina Carnitas Spice Blend
1 tablespoon oil
4 cups broth or stock, I use pork

Spice Mix:  Use Tijerina Carnitas Spice Blend (No Salt)!

Or

1 White Onion, quartered
1 Jalapeño, de-seeded and chopped
3 cloves Garlic, diced
1 tablespoon Mexican Oregano
2 tablespoons ground Cumin
1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika
2 tablespoons Paprika
1-2 tablespoons Kosher Salt

Method (to cook the pork)

1. Rinse the pork and pat dry, rub all over with Tijerina Carnitas Spice Blend or the Mix you made above.
3. Place the pork in a slow cooker (fat side up), top with liquid. You may also put in an oven proof dish and bake at 300 degrees for 3-3 1/2 hours.
4. In a slow cooker, cook on low for 10 hours or high for 7 hours.
5. Pork should be tender and fall apart with a fork.  Remove from slow cooker and let cool slightly, then shred using two forks. Or you may let the pork naturally fall off the bone as you take it out of the slow cooker.
6. If you have a lot more than 3 cups of juice, then reduce it down to about 2 cups. You want about 2 cups for the seasoning of the cooked pork. Set the liquid aside.

(to make the pork crispy and irresistible!) – well…you fry it of course.

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large non stick pan or well seasoned skillet over high heat.
2. Spread about 1/4 of the pork into the pan.
3. Add about 1/8 cup of juices to the pan.
4. Wait until the meat is crispy, brown and fried on the bottom.
5. Flip and sear the other side.
6. Remove the pork from skillet and set aside.
7. Repeat until all of the pork has been to the pan. Any remaining juice can be used to pour over the meat or saved to add later (If there are leftovers. Ha!)

**If you want to speed up the crisp, you can broil in an oven on high. Spread out the pork on a parchment lined sheet tray and broil 5-8 minutes or until edges of meat are crispy and brown. Then, pour over the remaining juices.