Buddha said “Be patient, everything comes to you in the right moment.”
This moment took eight hours. Eight long, grueling and seemingly endless hours.
That is right, I finally used my slow cooker. I made Carnitas. To be more exact, I made Thai Carnitas. Crispy, moist, tender pork that has been married to all the flavors you’d recognize from Thai dishes. This bowl of “little meats” was a miracle.
Miracle? That seems exaggerated. Well, it’s not. Let me explain how these babies were made.
This started as a request from a fellow blogger (Johnny). “Diamonds are made under pressure” he stated prior to asking for an Asian Carnitas recipe. I knew what I needed to do and immediately went to work! Haha, just kidding…I never worked with pork shoulder before. The seal on my slow cooker has never been touched and has even managed to collect a small mountain of dust. So naturally, I decided…I’ll just make something else he suggested.
I made my routine trip to the market and there it was…a 4lb pork shoulder on the verge of expiring and because of that…40% off. You guys know I’m a sucker for deals so I took it as a sign. The foodie Gods want Asian Carnitas and I was their delivery method. I carried the hunk of meat home, role played as Indiana Jones looking for my slow cooker and finally…nothing. For once I had no plan of what I was going to do or how I was going to do it.
I decided to look at recipe requests to get inspired and saw the words “Make me proud!” written by Johnny. *sigh* Then I recalled a conversation I had with Jordan (Food Blogger) when she taught me the secret to her food. I took her advice and did what she would in my situation “throw everything together and hope it tastes good.” I placed my pork in the slow cooker and proceeded to unload my pantry on it.
What came out was unpleasant. Lucky for you, this recipe wasn’t that. The Thai Carnitas you see is divine! A Godsend!
I hope. No! I beg for you to try this! If you are not convinced by the pictures then check out what I put this meaty goodness in! HERE.
- 3 lb Pork Shoulder
- 1 tbsp Ground Tumeric
- 1 tbsp Kosher Salt
- 2 tsp Ground White Pepper
- 1 13.5oz Lite Coconut Milk
- 5 clove Garlic
- Fresh Lime Juice From 2 limes
- 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 1 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 inch Ginger Sliced
- 2 Stalk Lemongrass Tops trimmed. Smash the stalk.
- 4 Shallots Peeled
- 3 Bird's Eye Chili
- Wash and dry the pork shoulder.
- Trim the fat and run the pork shoulder with the ground turmeric, kosher salt and ground white pepper.
- Throw everything into a slow cooker and set in on low for 8 hours.
- Reserve some of the fat that has risen to the top.
- Turn your broiler on (500F). Pull the shoulder out of the slow cooker and shred the pork with two forks.
- Place your pulled pork on a baking sheet, pour in 2-3 tbsp of the reserved fat (season to taste at this point) and place it on the rack closest to the broiler for 7-10 minutes.
Regular coconut milk will break when heated for long periods of time so I recommend using the lite version. It will break as well but not as much and the oil will add flavor when the meat is broiled.
Expect to lose 1/2 - 1lb off your pork shoulder after you trim the fat.
Yum, these sound delicious! Congrats on losing your slow cooker virginity, nicely done!
Thanks Mrs. Heuser!! Thanks for dropping by!!