I took off the next three days to just focus on cooking. I had set goals and a timeline prepared, groceries purchased, and naturally, it all went by the wayside. I even set off the smoke alarm once. Actually six times.
So you know what? I needed some comfort food. And nothing beats shredded, meaty, Mexican food to help you wallow and then pick yourself up by the bootstraps while marathon watching Modern Family re-runs. (Jim and I have successfully Myers-Briggs typed all of the characters.)
I have made a lot of shredded pork. The beauty of pork is that it lends itself to so many cuisines. Generally carnitas are used in tacos. But shredded pork shoulder belongs in so many other places besides tacos! Burrito bowls, nachos, quesadillas, pozole, and arepas are great with shredded pork for a bit of Latin flair! And so are filled dumplings, barbecue sandwiches, ramen, sticky rice bowls, Bahn mi sandwiches, gnocchi, pasta dishes, and eggs Benedict!
It’s so versatile! And if you exchange cumin for basil, you’re ready for an Italian shredded pork instead of carnitas. This is a base recipe that you can build off of and modify to whatever you’re making for dinner!
This recipe is nice because it is SUPER low maintenance. And it requires six cloves of garlic! I read a recipe the other day on another blog that called for half a clove of garlic. Half a clove!!!?!?!?! Who does that? Whatever a recipe calls for when it comes to garlic, I. WILL. TRIPLE IT. I loves me some garlic.
It’s also nice that you dump all the stuff in a pot and walk away for four and a half hours.
Now let’s talk about the beer. Pork shoulder is a fatty cut of meat. I advise taking the long fat strip off after the pork is done cooking. But even after that, pork shoulder just has a lot of fat in it! That’s why it’s so juicy and delicious! It’s marbled! Alcohol dissolves fats. (I wish that were true for my love handles.) But that’s why I list beer! Fatty meat + alcohol = perfectly juicy meat.
Now if you don’t have beer or you aren’t a drinker, a good substitute is a can of Coke! If you’re not a soda drinker, one of those individual bottles of orange juice also works well. And if all else fails, just go with water!
Beer Braised Shredded Pork (Carnitas)
Equipment
- Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Pork shoulder butt roast
- 1 tbsp Kosher salt
- 2 Jalepeños, medium chopped seeds removed
- Juice of two cuties or one orange
- 1 White onion, sliced like an apple in eighths
- 6 cloves Garlic, whole peeled
- 1 tsp Ground cumin
- 2 tsp Dried oregano leaves
- 1 tsp Chili powder
- 1 tsp Onion powder
- 4 oz can Hatch green chiles, diced
- 2 Dried ancho chiles, sliced seeds removed
- 2 tsp Better than Bullion chicken base
- 12 oz Wheat beer
Instructions
- Place the pork roast in the Dutch oven with the fat side on the side. Season liberally with kosher salt.
- Juice oranges over the roast and cover it with jalepeños, dried ancho chiles, Hatch green chiles, and dried spices. Spread whole garlic cloves and onion around the sides of the roast. Drop in the Better than Bullion directly on the meat and then pour over the beer.
- Cover Dutch oven with lid and place on low heat for four hours, undisturbed.
- Before shredding, remove the long strip of fat from the roast. Then shred pork with two forks. Serve or store in a sealed container for up to 3-4 days.