Sous Vide Carnitas (Crispy Mexican-Style Pulled Pork)

• servings: 8-12 servings
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 8 hours 50 minutes

Ingredients

4 pounds (1.8kg) boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch-thick slabs

6 medium cloves garlic, smashed

2 bay leaves

1 tsp cumin

1 medium orange, peel intact

Kosher salt

Warm corn tortillas

Lime wedges

Chopped white onion and fresh cilantro leaves

Charred Salsa Verde or other salsa

Directions

Combine pork, garlic, cumin, 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.

Transfer contents to a vacuum bag and seal.

When ready to cook, use a sous vide immersion circulator to preheat a water bath to 165 degrees.

Add bag to water bath and cook for 12-24 hours. 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.

When meat is cooked, remove from water bath. If you are cooking the pork in advance and don’t plan to serve it the same day, cool pork to room temperature directly in the bag or chill in an ice bath, then transfer bag to refrigerator or freezer (pork can be refrigerated for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 2 months). If finishing the carnitas the same day, 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.

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. After browning, shred the meat.

Serve carnitas with warm tortillas, lime wedges, chopped onion and cilantro, and salsa.

Notes

Adapted from Kenji's recipe.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: Serves 8 to 12
• Calories: 501 kcal
• Total Fat: 33 g
• Saturated Fat: 12 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 136 mg
• Sodium: 314 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 15 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3 g
• Total Sugars: 10 g
• Protein: 36 g