Mojo marinated pork tacos

texaswig

I marinaded it overnight in sour orange,  garlic and onion, serrano peppers.  And I couldn't even tell after after it cooked. So I heated up the marinated enough to kill the raw meat cooties. Added some sugar to it. Put a little of it on the pork after cut up.  Then it was good! 

Legume

That had to make more than two tacos.

It certainly sounds like you had a good plan, do you think the butt was just too much mass to marinating to work well?

texaswig

@Legume it made more than 2.haha. I stabbed holes in it. And totally covered it in marinade. A strong marinade at that. 

blasting

@texaswig  Those look mighty good.  Great photos too.

pgprescott

Beautiful! 

thetrim

As soon as I saw tacos, I knew I'd like it.  

johnnyp

looking good from here

CigarCityEgger

Looks awesome, did you pan the pork the whole time?

Eggcelsior

I've had the same issues, but injecting, rather than just poking holes really helped with liquid marinades getting flavor deep.

texaswig

@CigarCityEgger yep. I actually cooked this one in the oven. 350 uncovered for 2 hours then covered 3.5 hours. 

tarheelmatt

I want tacos! Looking good. 

Theophan

I've never tried mojo marinade, but I want to do so.  I was thinking I'd try it first on chicken, and I'd guess it'd be more noticeable than a big chunk of pork.  Still, I'm surprised the first taste was so bland.  Anybody have any ideas about why -- is that normal for this type of marinade?

texaswig

@Theophan I'm not real sure what the deal was. Chicken would probably be better. 

Legume

Theophan said:

I've never tried mojo marinade, but I want to do so.  I was thinking I'd try it first on chicken, and I'd guess it'd be more noticeable than a big chunk of pork.  Still, I'm surprised the first taste was so bland.  Anybody have any ideas about why -- is that normal for this type of marinade?

My guess size of it and cooking uncovered followed by covered maybe. I've had pork butt marinated in mojo then cooked in a slow cooker and it's great. Maybe start as a braise and then cooked foil off to crisp it would work?  When I've had it cooked in a crock pot, we've semi-pulled it and then finished by crisping on a griddle.

caliking

Taco me up! I've always got room for a couple more. 

R2Egg2Q

The tacos look great!

bgebrent

R2Egg2Q said:

The tacos look great!

Yup.  Nice grub brother.

thetrim

I want tacos.  Do you deliver?   I have a grubhub and ubereats account

texaswig

@Legume I'm thinking I'll do the braised method next time. 

bgebrent

thetrim said:

I want tacos.  Do you deliver?   I have a grubhub and ubereats account

Do you have a helecopter?

texaswig

@bgebrent no but I can do the helicopter. 

nolaegghead

texaswig said:

@bgebrent no but I can do the helicopter. 

Given the current exposure of extra-curricular feats of similar skills, I would urge you do "helicopter" in the privacy of your home.

bgebrent

nolaegghead said:

texaswig said:

@bgebrent no but I can do the helicopter. 

Given the current exposure of extra-curricular feats of similar skills, I would urge you do "helicopter" in the privacy of your home.

Oh ye of little faith.

nolaegghead

bgebrent said:

nolaegghead said:

texaswig said:

@bgebrent no but I can do the helicopter. 

Given the current exposure of extra-curricular feats of similar skills, I would urge you do "helicopter" in the privacy of your home.

Oh ye of little faith.

Or just dance like no one's watching. As long as no one is watching.

YukonRon

This is a real cook. Tacos, not just for breakfast anymore. Looks beautiful.

GrillSgt

Tacos look great but you can't get the real carnitas flavor that way. I will post a recipe later today. 

Randall_Lee

I tried out the insant pot on Carnitas for the first time, chuncked up the pork into 2x3” pieces before the marinade. When cooked added a little of the cooking liquid while crisping it up in oven or flat top. Wasn’t bad for a 30-40 minuets cook.

GrillSgt

OK here's a hack for pretty authentic tasting carnitas. It works for any protein. Take your already cooked meat, in this case your shoulder, and break it down by cutting or by hand into chunks totaling 2-3 lbs. Place chunks in a covered vessel and add 1 orange (sour) quartered, 1 onion quartered, 2 bay leaves and water about 1/2 way up meat. Simmer for 45 mins. Remove and shred meat only. Get a large frying pan, CI or nonstick, screaming hot and add meat evenly. Let it crisp for 5 minutes and turn, cook to your desired crispness. Salt before removing. Tastes like the real thing. Works great for turkey leftovers.