Mexican Carnitas Tacos {Electric Pressure CookerRecipe}
February 6, 2011 by patee333
¡Hola! ¿Cómo están? Did everyone enjoy the Super Bowl? I know I sure didn’t! But that’s cause I didn’t watch it. hehe
So today’s sixth recipe into the International Pressure Cooking theme is Carnitas Tacos. Si, es mucho bueno! Ok, I’m pretty sure I’m butchering the Spanish language so I’ll stop now.
(Note: I won’t be able to post a recipe next week because I will be out of town. I only have time to cook on the weekends since the rest of the week I have a day job and don’t get home until all the natural light is gone for my photos.)
Any who, what can I say about Mexican cuisine? I’ll bet I can write a giant tome of a book all about it. Mexican food is very prominent in Southern California. It ranges from authentic Mexican food to a little Sunny California tweaking variations. I like all types of cuisines, but I think Mexican probably ranges a bit high at about a 4. It’s not my favorite but I do enjoy it immensely. Lots of my friends have a Latin background, so it’s pretty hard to narrow down a good recipe. I originally wanted to make Cuban Pulled Pork sandwiches but realized I didn’t know anyone that was Cuban. I guess I could’ve dedicated the recipe to Ricky Ricardo, but hmmm………I don’t think so.
So let’s get cooking.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 (3-4 pound) boneless pork shoulder/rump roast (Have your butcher remove any bones and fat as much as possible)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups chicken broth
Garnishes:
- Shredded Cheese (Not pictured)
- Small Tortillas (Not pictured)
- Limes
- Avocado
- Cilantro
- Salsa Verde (Optional)
- Pico de Gallo (Optional)
In a small bowl, mix up all the dry spice ingredients, except for theChilesand bay leaves. Rub the roast with the mixture all over. I mean, seriously, rub it in good! Let it sit for about 2-3 minutes.
In the pressure cooker’s main cooking pot, pour in the chicken stock and bay leaves. Chop up the SerranoChilesinto small pieces and add it to the stock.
Now, for this recipe I actually decided to use a Trivet. It didn’t come with my pressure cooker, but I happened to have one that fit into it nicely. You can buy these anywhere.
I use the trivet to set the roast on so the meat doesn’t sit directly into the chicken stock liquid at the beginning because if it does, it has the tendency to rinse off all the spices you just rubbed into the roast. So the trivet is pretty handy to avoid that.
Set the trivet into the cooking pot and place the roast on top of it. Close the lid and turn it counter clock-wise to lock it. Turn the Pressure Valve to the Airtight position. Press the PRESSURE COOKING TIME button for 60-minutes and then press START. Yup, this is actually a recipe that will take more than an hour. But in a slow-cooker, it would’ve taken 8-10 hours.
While the pressure cooker is doing its thing, you can take this time to prepare the garnishes. Chop up the cilantro, slice up the limes and avocados, etc.
Once the 60-minute cook time has expired, turn the pressure valve to the Exhaust position to release all the pressure and open the lid. The roast may look done to you, but it’s not quite there yet. But the spices have cooked into the meat and have formed a nice looking yummy soft “crust”. Using a large fork and/or tongs, remove the pork and side aside. Then remove the trivet. Now put the pork roast back into the pot directly into the liquid. There’s no risk of the spices washing off now.
Close the lid again and turn it counter clock-wise to lock it. Turn the Pressure Valve to the Airtight position. Press the PRESSURE COOKING TIME button for 30-minutes and then press START. This extra cooking time will get the meat to the fall-apart stage.
Once the cooking time is complete,turn the pressure valve to the Exhaust position to release all the pressure and open the lid. Remove the roast to a large platter. Using a sharp knife and fork, start shredding the meat into small bite size carnita pieces. Discard any remaining fat. The meat is so juicy and tender, and all the spices make it smell heavenly! Put all the pieces onto a plate and spoon some of the leftover chicken stock over the meat and season with some salt and pepper.
Now you can use the carnitas to make anything you want, from tamales to burritos to whatever. I chose to make tacos. Small and light. Dainty and cute. Pile it high with all sorts of toppings or keep it simple. Now I’m going to go lay out in my hammock in the backyard. Where is my bottle of Corona?
