Adapted from Cuisine at Home magazine. Cooking the pork in the slow cooker is pretty easy. What takes this recipe from good to great are the steps after the meat is done. Don’t skip defatting the broth, cooking down the broth, shredding the meat with attention, and crisping the finished product under the broiler.
6 dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn
2 white onions, chopped
1 bulb garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
1 12-ounce can of Coke
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 bone-in pork shoulder roast (5-6 pounds)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 1 or 2 limes)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Toast dried chiles in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add to a 7-quart slow cooker along with onions, garlic, and Coke.
Combine cumin, coriander, oregano, salt, and pepper. Rub this mixture on all sides of the pork. Put the pork in the slow cooker. Cover slow cooker and cook on high for 6-7 hours, until meat is falling off the bone.
Allow slow cooker to cool and place in refrigerator for several hours (or overnight) to allow the fat in the broth to become solid. Remove the fat and discard.
Pour the broth into a saucepan and boil down to no more than 1 cup of liquid.
Meanwhile, shred the pork by hand or with two forks, discarding anything that isn’t nice and meaty. In our family this process is called “separating the good from the bad”.
Add the lime juice and brown sugar to the concentrated liquid. Stir the liquid back into the shredded pork.
Spread the pork evenly on a half-sheet pan and place under the broiler for 8-10 minutes so the meat becomes crispy. Do not allow the meat to burn.
Serve carnitas in tortillas with garnishes of your choice such as salsa, radishes, onion slices, cilantro, crumbled cotija cheese or shredded Monterey Jack cheese and sliced jalapenos.