Authentic Puerto Rican Pork Recipes

PUERTO RICAN PORK ROAST

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Place the garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and olive oil into the container of a food processor or blender. Process until smooth. Use a small knife to make several incisions in the fresh ham. Insert the garlic paste into each one using a small spoon. Place the ham in a roaster, and cover.
• Bake for 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven, then check every 15 minutes or so, until the internal temperature reaches 175 degrees F ( 80 degrees C) when taken with a meat thermometer.
• While the meat is roasting, place the yucca in a large pot of boiling water. Cook until fork tender, and drain. Serve with pork roast.

PUERTO RICAN PERNIL: PORK SHOULDER ROAST WITH ADOBO RUB

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients for Adobo Rub and keep in a cool dry place. This makes quite a bit so you will have lots left over to use for other things like chicken or steak!
• Rub adobo all over the pork; cover with plastic and refrigerate for 12 hours (max. 24 hrs.)
• Take pork out of the fridge one hour before roasting. Remove excess salt and let it rest at room temperature.
• Preheat the oven 400°F.
• Put pork in a roasting pan with fat cap face up and cook for 45 minutes.
• Turn the oven temperature down to 250°F and cook for 90 to 120 minutes or until the pork reaches 145°F degrees in the center.
• Carve and pull apart pieces - serve while hot!

DADDY EDDIE'S ROAST PORK (PERNIL), PUERTO RICAN-STYLE

Steps:

• Combine olive oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, salt, and black pepper in a mortar and pestle; mash into a paste.
• Make deep slits into the pork with a small knife. Stuff slits with the paste; rub any remaining paste over the pork.
• Place pork in a plastic roasting bag and put in a roasting pan with a rack. Let marinate in the refrigerator, 8 to 48 hours.
• Take pork out of the refrigerator, uncover, and bring to room temperature, 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Roast pork skin-side down in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 2 hours. Flip pork and continue roasting, skin-side up, until juices run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C), 2 to 4 hours more.

PERNIL

Steps:

• Score the fat on the pork shoulder in a criss-cross hatch fashion. Then, cut deeply once in each direction across the pork, like you are going to cut it into four quarters, but then leave them attached at the bottom. Use a sharp knife to make about 20 slits, about 1 inch deep, all over the meat. Place the meat in a 13 x 9 baking pan, or another shallow baking pan large enough to comfortably hold the meat with some space around it.
• Combine the oil, garlic, fresh and dried oregano, Adobo, paprika, salt and pepper. Rub the mixture all over the meat, working it all over the surface and into the slits. Cover the pork with foil and refrigerate overnight.
• Bring the pork to room temperature, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300F°. Bake the pork, covered for 3 hours, then remove the foil and bake for another 3 to 4 hours at the same temperature, until the pork is fall-apart tender. The internal temperature should be at least 165°, but it may be higher, which is fine - it's most important that the meat is super tender. If you would like a crustier exterior, turn the heat to 375°F and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the outside of the pork has a nice browned crust.
• Let the pernil sit for at least 20 minutes, then use your fingers (if it's not too hot; some people like to wear kitchen gloves to protect their fingers from the heat), or two forks to pull the meat into chunks. Sprinkle the meat with the lemon and orange juice, season with additional salt and pepper, and serve hot or warm.

ROAST PORK SHOULDER - GOYA® AUTHENTIC PUERTO RICAN RECIPE RECIPE - (3.9/5)

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix together the olive oil, garlic, Adobo, lemon juice, sazon, oregano and black pepper; set aside. Using a small, sharp knife, make a cut on the side of the roast where the skin meets the flesh. Continue cutting, separating the skin from the flesh, leaving one end of the skin attached. Using the knife, make 1/2-inch deep incisions in the flesh, under the skin. Place the pork on a tray. Using your hands, rub spice mixture over flesh, pushing some of the mixture into the cuts. Place the skin on top of meat; wipe the skin clean. Rub skin with salt. Cover tray with plastic wrap; transfer to refrigerator to marinate at least 4 hours, or overnight. Heat oven to 350°F. Transfer pork, skin side-up, to roasting pan; bring to room temperature, about 1 hour. Pat skin dry. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil. Cook pork until meat is fork-tender and internal temperature registers 145°F, 3 to 3 1/2 hours; discard foil. Increase oven to 450°F. Cook pork, uncovered, adding water in 1/4 cup measures if pan becomes dry, until skin is brown and crisp, 20 to 35 minutes, checking pan every 10 minutes. Transfer pork to cutting board; let rest 20 minutes. Remove skin and cut into pieces. Drain fat from drippings. Cut meat from bone. Serve with skin and pan juices.

TRADITIONAL PLANTAIN MOFONGO RECIPE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Heat about 2 inches of oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet or deep fryer to 350 F.
• While the oil is heating up, peel the plantains and cut into 1-inch rounds.
• Fry the plantains until golden and tender, 4 to 6 minutes.
• Remove cooked plantains from the pan or fryer to a paper-towel-lined plate.
• Put the garlic paste in a large bowl or mortar and add the fried plantains, in batches, if necessary. Mash thoroughly.
• Add the pork rinds. Continue to mash and mix until all of the ingredients are combined. Add salt to taste.
• Shape the mofongo into 4 balls and serve.
• Alternatively, you can make the mofongo into a half-dome shape using a small condiment bowl as a mold; push a portion of mofongo down to the bottom of the bowl.
• With the back of a spoon, smooth over and level off the mix.
• Then use the spoon to scrape around the bowl and remove the mash in a half-dome shape.

PERNIL, PUERTO RICAN SLOW ROASTED PORK

Steps:

• The night before, cut deep slits all over the pork roast. Stuff 1-2 slices of garlic and a spoonful of soffrito (~1 tablespoon) in each slit. Coat the roast in the remainder of the soffrito and season generously with coarse kosher salt and adobo seasoning (I used probably 3-4 tablespoons). Place roast in a roasting pan and tightly cover with foil.
• The next day, preheat oven to 350F. Make sure the pan is tightly covered and slowly roast, approximately 40-45 minutes a pound (it took 7-8 hours for my 9 lb roast), basting once an hour and covering, until the meat is tender and easily pulls away.
• Raise the oven temperature to 400F and remove the foil. Carefully crisp the skin, being careful not to burn and removing it if it gets too dark, 10-20 minutes.

HOW TO MAKE AUTHENTIC CUBAN PERNIL

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. (Once marinated for desired amount of time.)
• In a large mixing bowl, with a sharp knife, carefully lift 3/4 of the skin from the meat. Once skin is lifted, gently poke holes throughout meat.
• Season generously with salt and pepper.
• Fill holes with garlic.
• Make a paste with oil and remaining seasonings. Generously rub pork with paste.
• Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least two hours. After two hours, add in a cup of mojo to bowl, continue to marinate for another hour or overnight in fridge.
• Into a large roasting pan, add pork, skin side up. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 5-7 hours. Remove foil and raise heat to 350 degrees for twenty minutes.
• Remove from heat, let rest for ten minutes. Sprinkle lime juice before serving, if desired.

PUERTO RICAN PORK ROAST RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Place the garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and olive oil into the container of a food processor or blender. Process until smooth.
• Use a small knife to make several incisions in the fresh ham. Insert the garlic paste into each one using a small spoon. Place the ham in a roaster, and cover.
• Bake for 1½ hours in the preheated oven then check every 15 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 175 degrees F ( 80 degrees C) when taken with a meat thermometer.
• While the meat is roasting, place the yucca in a large pot of boiling water. Cook until fork tender and drain. Serve with pork roast.