Pork Carnitas in the Instapot
Spicy flavorful shredded pork shoulder, that tastes like it cooked all day but really took 1 and a half hours!
I had actually watched a Netflix show called a Chef's Table and featured Cristina Martinez who is a woman who came to the US to support her family and did so through her dream of starting a restaurant serving nothing but Barbacoa. It looked delicious and I loved hearing her story. It made me want to try making it... but Barbacoa was traditionally lamb or goat and in the US and other Western parts of the world they substitute in beef. I had a pork shoulder on hand that is great for pulled pork... but did not sub in nicely for a barbacoa. It did make a nice carnitas though which has very similar flavours... so I thought I would try this.
To start, I decided to sear the meat to brown it and really infuse the seasoning into the meat. I generously dusted the shoulder with cumin and garlic powder on all sides and proceeded to sear in an oiled pan.
Once seared I placed the shoulder into the Instapot and started to work on what would become its sauce.
I diced up some red onion and seeded jalapenos.
I started to sear these on the stove until tender and soft. I used the same pan that I seared the pork shoulder in to benefit from the released juices and seasoning and crispy bits. I also added more cumin as this flavor is a feature to this dish and adds to the smokey end of the marinade.
The I added some Pacific Brand chicken Stock, tomato paste and Smokey Chipotle sauce. I also added lime juice to taste. In a carnitas you can also use orange or mango juice to give a more indepth flavour.
Once the wet ingredients were lightly boiled and incorporated to the onion jalapeno mix, I poured it over the pork shoulder.
I set the Instapot to pressure cook for 60 minutes and let it do it's thing. After the 60 minutes I vented it and opened it up and pulled the roast apart and got rid of the skin and bone. But I was glad the shoulder had cooked with it in to add the flavor. I placed it back to pressure cook for anotyher 30 minutes and it was absolutely perfect.
I transitioned to making the pickled red onion by slicing up red onion and mixing with apple cider vinegar. If you have a lot of time and want to make this to just have on hand in the fridge, they taste awesome to just pickle in the vinegar. If you don't have time aka its for that evening's dinner you can lightly simmer the onions in the vinegar on the stove.
Once complete I shredded the pork to the desired consistency and prepped some coleslaw blend, shredded cheese for my kids, sliced up pickles, the pickled red onion and my husbands pickled daikon radishes. I also set out salsa, guacamole and my cashew dip, in the place of sour cream. Served with warm flour tortilla's and this was a fun meal that my kids ate with us because they could build their own tortilla!
I highly recommend trying this meal... It was still easy and hands off for the most of the cooking time! Delicious!
The Recipe:
1 pork shoulder.
Generously dust with cumin and garlic powder and sear on all sides in a high heat oil.
Place in the Instapot.
Mince some red onions and jalapeno with additional cumin and oil.
Add in two Tbsp of tomato paste
Add 1 cup of chicken broth
Add at least 1 Tbsp of chipotle sauce. I put in 3 Tbsps to really enhance the smokey flavour.
Pour over the pork shoulder and seal the Instapot on the pressure cook setting for 60 minutes.
Once the 60 minutes is over, open it up after venting, pull out the bone and any skin and separate the pork a bit and re-seal and pressure cook for another 30 minutes.
Pair with flour or corn tortillas, coleslaw mix (dry) cheese blend (if you can eat it) guacamole, salsa and something creamy like a cashew dip. This smokey flavour pairs with some vinegary flavour like cut dill pickles or pickled red onion.
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