Tacos De Carnitas - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 1/2 lbs pork butt
6 cups water
7 slices orange zest
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 onions, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cinnamon sticks, preferably Mexican
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano leaves, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
24 small corn tortillas, warmed
chopped fresh cilantro
finely chopped onion
fresh salsa verde or hot sauce

Preparation

Trim any thick fat from the outside of the pork butt. Cut the meat into 1-inch cubes. Discard any cubes that are pure fat, but don't try to trim all of the fat out of the meat.
Put the pork in a large pot. Add the water the strips of orange zest, garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, bay leaves, oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and cloves. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Skim off any scum that forms on the surface. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours, until the pork is very soft, adding more water if necessary to keep the meat submerged. Season with salt.
Bring to a gentle boil and cook until the water has evaporated about 30 minutes. Cook a little longer to fry the meat slightly. (Note: if you want extra-crispy carnitas, fry approximately 25 minutes.) Watch carefully to prevent burning.
Remove the bay leaves and cinnamon sticks. Put the meat in a fine strainer and push gently with a wooden spoon to remove any excess fat. Discard the fat.
Fold a few tablespoons of carnitas inside each tortilla and top each taco with cilantro, onion and salsa.