Local Pork and Storm Peak Guava Sour Carnitas
Delicious local pork? Check! Locally brewed fruity beer? Check! The tastiest easy carnitas ever? You bet!
If you didn’t know before, I LOVE Mexican food.
Growing up in California, I loved the delicious taco trucks, homemade tamales at the local Mexican grocer, and access to amazing avocados. I would say street tacos are one of my favorite things to eat and carnitas has always been one of my faves. As a chef in Steamboat who tries to cook and eat as locally as possible, I am so lucky to have access to some of the most delicious pork I’ve ever had. One of our local farms, Hayden Fresh Farm, has incredible pasture-raised Mangalitsa pork and it is truly amazing. Normally, carnitas is made with orange juice, but I decided I would try using a locally brewed favorite, the Hoochie Mama, which is a kettle soured guava beer brewed by Storm Peak Brewery! The results were delicious and so easy to make! A lot of people asked for the recipe, so I tried to write down what I did…check it out below!
carnitas
4 lbs pork shoulder
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp cumin
3 cloves garlic (or more!)
1 large onion, sliced
1 c chicken broth or h2o
1 can of storm peak hoochie mama guava sour (can sub orange juice)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a large dutch oven, rub pork with olive oil, salt, oregano, and cumin.
Add garlic cloves and onion.
Pour chicken broth and beer to cover at least 3/4 of the way up the pork.
Cover tightly with foil and lid.
Braise for 3-4 hours or until you can shred with a fork.
Make ‘em crispy!
Large cast iron skillet
Canola oil
Braised pork shoulder and reserved liquid (don’t shred it yet!)salt to taste
On medium/medium high heat, add enough canola oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
Add the pork and allow to fry until browned on one side. Flip over the pieces and shred with a fork, allowing it to brown some more.
Add some of the reserved liquid, season with salt (if needed) to taste, and serve with all the fixings!