beer-braised carnitas with beans and pickle-y slaw
This recipe works excellently in an instant pot, slow cooker or stovetop pressure cooker, but it also comes out just as great in a lo-fi Dutch oven so use what you’ve got! The mango isn’t traditional and it doesn’t actually make the meat taste fruity, it just adds body and a delicious, sticky caramelized flavor. Trust.
yield 4-6 servings
riffing
swap the mango for a cup of pineapple, medium diced
swap the pork for beef brisket or chuck
add some sliced avocado
this could make a very delicious, juicy sandwich
carnitas
4 guajillo (cascabel) chiles
4 arbol chiles (optional)
2 lbs boneless pork shoulder (3 lbs if bone-in), cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 red mango, peeled, pitted, medium dice
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 ts ground cumin
2 T honey or light brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
24 ounce lager (like Modelo, Tecate or Pabst)
1 14oz can of kidney or pinto beans
pickled onions and slaw
1/2 large red onion
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
2 T sugar
2 ts diamond crystal kosher salt (1 ts if morton’s)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems
1 1/2 cup green cabbage, finely shredded
for serving
grated cotija cheese
warm tortillas, rice or tortilla chips
recipe prep
In a saute pan (or dutch oven, if using for braise) over high heat, toast the chiles, turning occasionally, until browned on both sides and puffed. Remove from heat, cool slightly and remove chili stems and seeds. Cut chiles in half lengthwise.
Combine chiles and all remaining carnitas ingredients EXCEPT beans in the bowl of an instant pot, pressure cooker, slow cooker or dutch oven along with 2 teaspoons diamond crystal kosher salt (1 1/4 teaspoons if morton’s). If you’re using bone-in meat, throw the bones in the pot, too!
In an Instant Pot or stovetop pressure cooker, cook on high pressure for 45 minutes and then do a manual pressure release.
If cooking in a dutch oven, add one cup of water and bring to a boil on the stove. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally until meat is fork-tender, 60-80 minutes.
If Cooking in a slow cooker, cook on low setting for 4-6 hours or until pork is fork-tender.
Remove pork (and bones, if any), shred, and transfer to a medium bowl. Transfer liquid to a medium saucepan on the stove OR if using a dutch oven or the pot of a stove-top pressure cooker, just continue using that OR you can use the saute function on an open Instant Pot if you like. Add beans and juice from the can to the pot. Bring to a boil, stirring often, and reduce liquid by about half until it coats the back of a spoon. Transfer beans and reduced braising liquid to the bowl with the meat and stir to combine.
Sometime while the meat is braising, work on the pickles and slaw. Cut the onion into three equal strips from root to top. Thinly slice the onions cross-wise so you have a bunch of 1-inch onion pieces. In a medium bowl, combine salt, sugar, vinegar and 1 cup water and whisk until sugar and salt have fully dissolved. Add onions and jalapenos and let them sit for at least 30 minutes.
After the pickles have had some time to marinate, combine cabbage and cilantro in a medium bowl. Add half of the pickled onions to the cabbage mixture along with a couple splashes of brining liquid and toss to combine. Let it sit for a few minutes so the cabbage softens slightly.
Serve carnitas with slaw, extra pickled onions, tortillas or rice and sprinkle with cotija cheese. If you’re making tacos, I recommend using a slotted spoon so they aren’t TOO juicy. You could also turn this into nachos if that is what you desire!
do it ahead Carnitas and beans can be made up to 2 days ahead and rewarmed (you can skim the fat off if you like). The pickled onions can be made 5 days ahead, but the slaw should only be made a few hours ahead.
nachos with leftover carnitas, amongst other things
