Pork Salsa Verde Carnitas, pork shoulder slow cooked in tomatillo salsa verde sauce, then pulled apart, oven browned and added back to the sauce.
Carnitas are the Mexican version of pulled pork. First braised in a flavorful sauce, the pork shoulder is slowly cooked until tender enough to easily shred the meat with a fork. Then it’s roasted at high heat to get crispy browned pieces full of flavor!
It’s taco meat, burrito meat, or just braised meat served with rice and beans or with tortillas.
This version of carnitas, modeled after a Sunset braised pork recipe, is first braised in a tomatillo salsa verde or green salsa.
It’s delicious served with fresh corn tortillas and topped with shredded coleslaw, cotija cheese, avocado and Mexican sour cream.
Salsa Verde Carnitas
If you have time, first lightly toast the whole cumin and coriander seeds in a small skillet over medium-high heat.
ingredients
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3 1/2 lb pork shouldertrimmed of excess fat (not all fat, just the glaring excess fat), cut into large (3 to 4 inch) pieces
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2 cups tomatillo salsa bottled or homemade
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1 1/2 cups chopped Onion
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3 cups chicken broth
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2 teaspoon all cumin seeds
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2 teaspoon coriander seeds
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1 teaspoon dried oregano
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1 bunch corianderroughly chopped, stalks and tender leaves
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Salt
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12 to 16 Corn tortillasheated and softened
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1/4 head cabbagecut very thin
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1 teaspoon flavored rice vinegar (if you only have unseasoned add 1/4 teaspoon sugar)
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Salt and pepper
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1 avocadopeeled, cored and chopped
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1/2 Cup crumbles Cotija Mexican farmer’s cheese or shredded Monterey Jack cheese
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crema fresca, Mexican crema or sour cream
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Chopped coriander leaves for garnish
method
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Steam pork with salsa verde, onions, broth, spices until soft:
In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, place the pork, salsa verde, chopped onion, chicken broth, cumin, coriander seeds, and oregano and heat over high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover and simmer until the meat comes off easily with a fork, about 3 hours.
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Shred meat with two forks, then grill:
Preheat oven grill. Take the meat out of the pot and put it in a roasting pan. Using 2 forks, shred the meat into large chunks and spread them out in an even layer in the skillet. Place the pan on the top shelf of the oven. Grill for 5 to 10 minutes, until edges and some parts are brown and crispy.
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Skim fat, reduce salsa verde sauce:
While the meat is browning in the oven, skim the fat from the liquid in the large saucepan. (Dispose of the grease, but don’t pour it down the drain or you’ll clog your pipes.)
Heat the saucepan on high and boil the remaining liquid vigorously, stirring, until reduced to 2 1/2 cups, a few minutes.
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Put the meat back into the sauce, stir in the coriander:
Put the meat back into the pot with the liquid. Stir in chopped coriander. With salt.
Serve with heated and soaked corn tortillas (microwave 20 seconds each, spread out on a paper towel, enough to heat and soak packaged tortillas), diced avocado, crumbled cotija or shredded Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream (or crema fresca), and seasoning Coleslaw .
Seasoned Coleslaw
Place thinly sliced cabbage in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with seasoned rice vinegar, salt and pepper. You can replace the rice vinegar with white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. If you do, sprinkle some sugar on top to balance the acidity of the vinegar. Throw. Adjust spices. Let sit for 10 minutes to allow the cabbage to absorb some of the dressing.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 879 | calories |
| 55g | Fat |
| 40g | carbohydrates |
| 56g | protein |
