2 lbs or 1kg of Lard (Morell Snow Cap for Americans, Tenderflake for Canadians)
Salt
1 teaspoon of olive oil
28 oz of Tomatillos (Green Tomatoes) fresh or in a can
1 Jalapeno
Tortillas
1 Yellow Onion
Half a cup of Cilantro leaves
Directions
The Pork
Put lard into a dutch oven or large oven safe pot and set on medium-low heat to melt
Cut pork shoulder into roughly 2 inch pieces
Salt the pork pieces and drop them carefully into the hot oil, letting come up to a simmering fry. Make sure there’s enough lard to submerge the pork.
While you wait on the pork, preheat the oven to 300F or 150C
Once the oven is at temperature and the pork is frying, transfer the pot to the oven and let it cook for 2.5 hours.
Pull out the pot from the oven switch it to broiler mode, check tenderness with a fork or knife and leave the pork to cool down.
The Salsa
strain and pour a 28 oz (796ml) can of tomatillos into a bowl
Add a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
Place greased tomatillos onto a foil wrapped baking sheet and put them into the top rack of the oven until they begin to brown. (roughly 8 minutes) make sure they do not burn.
Pull out tomatillos from the oven and dump the tomatillos into a food processor or bowl for hand crushing.
Dice a yellow onion and add them to the food processor (dice them finer if you’re crushing them by hand in a bowl).
Dice and add a jalapeno (remove the middle flesh and seeds to reduce heat)
Add a minced garlic clove
Add half a cup of cilantro leaves
Mix them all together and serve with pork on heated tortillas
Notes
Squeeze some fresh lime on top for added flavor and freshness.
This is a simple style carnitas recipe which means it’s not the common braise with oranges, condensed milk and Coca-Cola recipe that most people are used to.
The pot of lard can be reused to make a second batch or fry other foods. If you wish to dispose of it, burying small amounts in the backyard makes for good fertilizer.
