Lunch: Crispy Pork Carnitas

Recipe by Chef John See how to make tender, tasty, crispy carnitas for tacos.

This recipe includes superfoods such as:

Cinnamon

Health benefits of Crispy Pork Carnitas

Cinnamon is one of the best ingredients that someone with insulin sensitivity can eat. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day has been shown to be very effective at normalizing blood sugar levels. Cinnamon contains hydroxychalcone, which is thought to enhance the effects of insulin. It has also been suggested that Cinnamon prevents post-meal blood sugar spikes by slowing the gastric emptying rate - meaning that food digests slowly. (Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11506060).

Ingredients

3 pounds boneless pork butt (shoulder)
8 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
1 orange, juiced, orange parts of peel removed and sliced into thin strips
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 bay leaves, torn in half
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
Remove fat from pork; cut pork meat into 2-inch cubes and roughly chop fat.
Mix pork, garlic, olive oil, orange peel, orange juice, salt, bay leaves, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, and 5-spice powder together in a bowl until pork is coated completely. Transfer mixture to a 9x13-inch baking dish. Place baking dish on a baking sheet and cover baking dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil.
Bake in the preheated oven until pork is fork-tender, about 3 1/2 hours.
Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.
Transfer meat to a colander set over a bowl. Remove garlic, bay leaves, and orange peels from baking dish and pour accumulated juices from the baking dish over meat in colander into the bowl. Return meat to the baking dish and drizzle accumulated juices over each piece of meat.
Cook meat under the preheated broiler for 3 minutes. Drizzle more accumulated juices over meat and continue broiling until crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer pork to a serving plate and drizzle more accumulated juices over the top.