I’ve never made nor eaten carnitas before, so I’m not sure what qualifies as “good”, but in my inexperienced opinion, these hot honey carnitas were quite good.
Normally I would have liked to have something like iceburg lettuce for the crunch factor, but I only had carrot, and that was an acceptable substitute. The tortillas also weren’t ideal; at least mine weren’t, as they were quite fragile – though I’m not sure how normal that is for corn tortillas. I think the flavor of corn tortillas would be preferable, but if you’re worried about broken tortillas and saucy hands, I think flour tortillas would work just fine for these.
The sauce “recipe” doesn’t make much product, so if you’re planning on using the sauce for all the carnitas meat, you’ll probably want to make more. If you find the sauce is too runny, you can either keep reducing it until thickened more, or make a very small amount of corn starch slurry to thicken it (though I hesitate to recommend the latter if you’re not at least doubling the amount of sauce).
If you like this recipe for hot honey carnitas, consider checking out my recipe for sweet honey limeade.
INGREDIENTS
1 lb pork shoulder, cut into large chunks*, 454 grams
1 cup broth, stock or water**, 236 grams
2 Tbsps honey, 43 grams
1 Tbsp sriracha, 15 grams
2 tsps ketchup, 12 grams
1 tsp kosher salt, + 1/4 tsp, 6 grams total
1/2 tsp black pepper, 2 grams
PREPARATION
Preheat your oven to 275 f (135 c). Cover your pork in 1 tsp of your salt and all of your pepper, then place in a baking dish along with your broth. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1.5 – 2 hours or until the meat is easily torn apart.
Shred the pork and place it in another baking dish, then place under your oven’s broiler*** until well-browned on top.
To make the sauce, place your honey, sriracha, ketchup, and your 1/4 tsp of salt in a small sauce pan set over medium-low heat and cook until slighly thickened, then keep warm until needed.
Once the meat is browned and the sauce is thickened, you’re ready to serve. Serve on tortillas with a crisp, fresh vegetable, like cabbage or lettuce.
Notes
* The size doesn’t matter as much as having consistently sized chunks. However, the smaller the size, the less time it will take to cook. The time estimate in this recipe assumes a “small handful” of meat per chunk – larger than a golfball, but smaller than a baseball.
Also keep in mind that the amount called for is ONLY meat, so if you have a 1 pound piece of meat with a bone in it, that would be less meat than is called for in the recipe and your meat may end up over-seasoned.
** I’m not sure how necessary this is, but since this worked for me, it’s what I do and is what I recommend. If you know it’s unnecessary though, feel free to leave it out.
*** This probably goes without saying, but make sure the baking dish you use can withstand being broiled for a while. I personally used a cast iron pan.
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