Sous Vide Carnitas for Tacos (Crispy Mexican-Style Pulled Pork) Recipe

Ingredients

• Pork shoulder, whole

  Fresh, separable lean and fat, raw

  4 lb or 1.81kg

• Onions

  Raw

  1 medium or 110g

• Garlic

  Raw

  6 cloves, minced or 18g

• Cinnamon

  Spices, ground

  1 tbsp or 8g

• Bay leaf

  Spices

  7g

• Oranges

  Raw, with peel

  1 fruit without seeds or 159g

• Tortillas

  Ready-to-bake or -fry, corn

  20 tortilla or 480g

• Limes

  Raw

  1 fruit or 67g

• Fresh cilantro

  Coriander leaves, raw

  100g

• Salsa verde

  Campbell soup company, pace

  100g

Directions

1. Combine pork, onion, garlic, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves in a large bowl. Split orange into quarters and squeeze juice into bowl before adding rest of orange. Season generously with kosher salt and toss to combine.
2. Transfer contents to a vacuum bag and seal.
3. When ready to cook, set sous vide cooker to desired temperature according to chart above.
4. Add bag to sous vide bath and cook for recommended time according to chart above. Make sure to top water up occasionally as it evaporates, and keep bag completely submerged. If bag floats, weigh it down by placing a wet kitchen towel on top of it. Alternatively, use a heavy-duty binder clip to attach a metal spoon or knife to bottom of bag as a weight.
5. When meat is cooked, remove from water bath and transfer contents of bag to a large bowl. Pick out chunks of meat with a set of tongs and transfer them to a rimmed baking sheet. (Discard aromatics and excess liquid, or reserve liquid and blend it in with your salsa.) When it is cool enough to handle, shred meat roughly using 2 forks or your fingers. Spread evenly over baking sheet. Pork can be prepared up to this point and refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 5 days before serving.
6. When ready to serve, adjust an oven rack to 3 inches below the broiler element and preheat broiler to high. Place pork under broiler and cook, using a spoon to flip pieces occasionally, until meat is browned and crisp on most sides, about 10 minutes total. Alternatively, working in batches, heat carnitas in a cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes.
7. Serve carnitas with warm tortillas, lime wedges, chopped onion and cilantro, and salsa.
8. Recipe by: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt (source: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2017/01/sous-vide-carnitas-crispy-mexican-style-pulled-pork-recipe.html)