This pork carnitas had to be spice rubbed the night before cooking and requires 6-8 hours in the slow cooker. Traditionally, carnitas is slowly braised and sometimes fried. I don't have the time or patience for that, nor the desire to drown perfectly lean pork tenderloin in lard. That's why I decided on the slow cooker method.
I used about 2-1/2 pounds of raw pork tenderloins that I got at Costco. First, I cut them in half, then I mixed the following:
- 4 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 Tbsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 teaspoon ground oregano
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- Scant pinch of ground cloves
Rub the spices into the pork well and place into a covered container in the fridge overnight. (Picture shown is only 2 of the 4 pieces)
This morning around 10am I got the pork out and seared every single side of each piece in a hot pan with a touch of vegetable oil.
Next, place your pork into the crock pot and turn it on low. You must cook it for six hours!!!
When you open the lid after SIX HOURS, the pork will be falling apart as soon as you stick a fork in it. It will start to shred in the most delicious way.
Place the pork onto a cutting board and cut it every 2 inches or so. This will shorten the shreds to make it easier to eat. Put it back in the crock pot to shred with 2 forks. Trust me. If you do it on the cutting board, you will lose the juices and make a huge mess.
A little less than half of what I made!!! Yum!!!
I served this with black beans, delicious Mexican rice from this blog, tomalitas (a delicious sweet Mexican corn pudding type of thing) salsa, queso fresca, guacamole, and mexican shredded cheese for the husband. Seriously, we are going to be eating this for days. We have a crazy amount of leftovers!
You can just make a plate with everything or a very delicious burrito!!! Yum.
