As much as I love the slow-cooked carnitas recipe I posted previously, this one completely blows it out of the water.

I’ve heard of people cooking carnitas in orange juice and milk, but had never tried it before. Frankly, it sounded kind of gross. But folks – after this latest experiment, I’m convinced this is the secret to really good, really flavorful carnitas.

The other secret?
Letting the carnitas simmer in their own lard.
Yeah, you heard me right – lard. Yummy…

This recipe is super simple, but it does take time. I made this the night I made Cobb Salad and stored it in the fridge overnight. Before serving, I warmed the carnitas up in a cast iron skillet over medium low heat. This made the small pieces nice and crispy.

You may be able to slow cook this version – using the ingredients listed here, but the method from the slow-cooked version. If anyone tries that, let me know how it goes.

Carnitas Tacos

Method from Homesick Texan
3 pounds pork shoulder, cut into chunks
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup milk
2 cups water
2 T salt
1 T pepper
2 t Mexican Oregano
Preparation
Combine all ingredients in a dutch oven. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 2 hours. Do not stir.
After two hours, turn heat up to medium high. Turn pieces of meat that are still pink. Cook until all liquid has evaporated and the pork fat has rendered – about 45 minutes. Stir, making sure to keep the pork from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
When pork has browned on both sides, remove from pan and cool. Depending on preference, either pull the pork apart (it should fall apart when you touch it) or leave it in cubes. (I like to have a mixture of the two)
Make tacos with corn tortillas, cilantro, onions and green salsa like Ninfa’s Green Salsa.

It’s funny that it was roughly a year ago when I did Slow-Cooked Carnitas.
Use your leftovers to make Carnitas Flautas.