Cuban Style Pork Shoulder Recipes

CUBAN-STYLE ROAST PORK SHOULDER WITH MOJO RECIPE

Steps:

• For the Mojo: Combine garlic, cumin, pepper, oregano, orange juice, lime juice, and olive oil in a large bowl and whisk. Season to taste generously with salt. Transfer half of mojo to a sealed container and reserve in refrigerator. Add pork to remaining mojo and turn to coat. If desired, transfer pork and marinade to a gallon-sized zipper-lock bag and refrigerate 2 hours or up to overnight before continuing.
• For the Pork and to Finish: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 275°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place pork and juices on top and fold up foil, crimping to seal loosely but making sure that there is room for air to circulate inside. Place in oven and roast for 3 hours. Fold back foil, increase oven temperature to 325°F, and continue roasting, basting pork with pan juices occasionally, until pork shows almost no resistance when a metal skewer or knife is inserted into it and the surface is crackly and brown, 2 to 3 hours longer. Remove pork from oven and let rest 10 to 15 minutes.
• Pour accumulated pork juices into a bowl and discard all except 1 cup. Add reserved mojo to pork drippings, along with fresh chopped mint and oregano. Whisk together and season to taste with salt.
• Serve shredded pork, passing mint mojo and lime wedges on the side. Serve rice, beans, and plantains on the side. Reserve any leftovers for sandwiches.

RICO'S LECHON PORK CUBAN STYLE

Steps:

• For the pork marinade: Rinse the pork with warm water and place on a half-sheet pan preferably 1 to 2 inches deep. Carefully stab 8 to 10 slits with the tip of a chef's knife in different areas of the meat. (Note: If you are using a pork shoulder instead, cut under the thick cap of fat using a fillet knife, cutting while pulling the fat out of the way to one side, revealing the meat; do not remove the layer of fat, just detach it to make way for stabbing slits with your knife.) Using your hands, fill all the slits with garlic cloves, pressing them down into each slit. Add salt and pepper and spread evenly. Pour lemon and lime juices over the pork. Add the achiote, coriander and oregano. Using your hands, massage and spread evenly. Pour the olive oil and spread evenly. Let the pork rest at room temperature for 2 hours.
• For the blending ingredients: Add the onions, basil, olives, olive oil, green onions, green peppers, lemon, red pepper, yellow pepper and 2 quarts water to a blender. Blend until thick. Set aside.
• For the mojo marinade: Stir together the achiote, lemon and lime juices, olive oil, garlic, coriander, cumin, salt, pepper and orange slices in a bowl.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Transfer the pork to a deeper roasting pan, preferably 4 inches deep. Add the blending mixture by pouring it evenly over the pork. Now pour the mojo marinate evenly over the pork. Add water, making sure to pour on the sides of the pan and not on top of the pork, and fill at least two-thirds of the way. Cover the pork with foil, sealing tight, and place in the oven. Roast 3 1/2 hours, then remove the foil and turn the oven up to 425 degrees F. Continue to roast for an additional hour.
• Serve hot with your favorite rice and beans.

CUBAN-STYLE PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the garlic, salt, oregano, cumin, black pepper, chili pepper, crumbled bay leaves and orange zest.
• Stir in the vinegar, orange and lime juices to make a coarse paste.
• Add the pork pieces and toss until the pieces are evenly coated with the spice paste.
• Set aside to marinate while you finish the other preparations.
• Trim and cut the onions lengthwise into 1/4 -inch-thick slices.
• Arrange the slices in an even layer on the bottom of the slow cooker insert.
• Pour the broth over the onions.
• Arrange the pork in an even layer over the onions, pouring over any reserved marinade.
• Cover the insert and place it in the slow cooker.
• Set the cooker to high heat and cook 4 to 4 1/2 hours until the pork is fork-tender. (8 hours on low).
• Remove from heat and crack the lid to allow the mixture to cool slightly.
• Gently stir the pork with the onions and serve.

SLOW COOKER CUBAN PORK

Steps:

• Cut pork loin into 3 equal pieces.
• Turn a slow cooker to Low. Add orange juice, lime juice, lemon juice, and peppercorns, then add onion.
• Mix garlic, salt, and oregano into a paste and rub all over pork pieces. Place pork in the slow cooker.
• Cook on Low until pork is slightly pink in the center, 9 to 10 hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C). Pull apart meat with 2 forks and let sit for 1 hour before serving.

CUBAN-STYLE PORK ROAST

Steps:

• Puree garlic, oregano, olive oil, limes, and salt in a blender or food processor.
• Place meat in a roasting pan, and score the fat on top of the pork. Rub garlic mixture all over pork. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours. Flip roast occasionally and redistribute the rub.
• Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Remove meat from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. Place pan in the oven, fat side up, and add 1 cup of water to pan. Roast, uncovered, occasionally basting meat with juices and rub and turning pan to promote even cooking. Cook for 6 to 8 hours, until meat easily shreds. Let rest for 15 minutes, then shred and serve.

CUBAN GRILLED PORK (LECHON ASADO)

Steps:

• Prepare the marinade
• Mix all marinade ingredients in a bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.
• Marinate the pork
• If using a flavor injector (see cooking notes), strain half the marinade into a bowl, adding the strained-out garlic to the other half of the marinade. Use the injector to take in some strained marinade, pierce the pork with the tip of the needle, and inject it into the flesh. Do this all over the meat until the strained marinade has been used up.
• If you are not using a flavor injector, use a long, thin knife to create deep gashes all over the flesh and pour the marinade over the pork.
• Place the marinated pork in a deep bowl or container. Generously season the outside of the pork with salt and pour the remaining marinade all over it, spreading the onion rings all over the top.
• Cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
• Boil the marinade for basting
• Remove the pork from the marinade and place it on a platter. Transfer the marinade to a saucepan, add the onions, and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Place the boiled marinade and onions in a blender and puree until smooth. The marinade is now ready to use as a basting liquid.
• Grill the pork
• Before heating your grill, remove the pork from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature.
• Heat your grill to 550°F and close the lid. Wait at least 15 minutes before lowering the temperature to 300°F. Oil the grill grates with a vegetable oil-soaked paper towel held with a long pair of tongs.
• If your cut has the skin still attached, begin the cooking process with the skin side up (away from the direct heat).
• Grill your meat about 2 1/2 hours total. Turn the meat over once when you are one quarter through with the cooking time, again when you are halfway through, and once more when three-quarters of the cooking time has elapsed. The pork is ready when it reaches an internal temperature of 150°F on the grill (it will continue to cook when it's off the heat, raising the internal temperature to the desired 160°F).

CUBAN-STYLE ROAST PORK

Steps:

• Grind garlic, salt, black pepper, cumin, oregano, and coriander into a paste using a mortar and pestle.
• Transfer half of the garlic and spice paste to a bowl; add lime juice, orange juice, olive oil, and vinegar. Beat the mixture with a whisk until smooth.
• Cut several inch-long, deep slits into the fatty side of the pork roast. Rub the reserved garlic paste into the slits.
• Put rubbed roast into a gallon-size resealable plastic bag. Pour the liquid mixture over the roast, squeeze as much air from the bag as possible and seal; refrigerate, turning occasionally, 8 hours to overnight.
• Remove pork roast from refrigerator, put into a roasting pan, and let warm at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Roast pork in preheated oven for 30 minutes, reduce heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and continue cooking until pork is no longer pink in the center, about 2 hours more. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 170 degrees F (75 degrees C).

GRILLED CUBAN STYLE PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Place all marinade ingredients in a medium bowl and stir together until combined. Reserve and refrigerate 1/3 c marinade.
• Place pork in a large resealable plastic bag. Pour remaining marinade over the pork, seal the bag and refrigerate 24 hours turning the bag occasionally.
• When ready to grill, remove pork from bag and discard the bag and marinade. Light the two outside burners of your three burner grill or light one side and not the other on a two burner grill, placing a drip pan under grate where burner is NOT lit. Heat on high until hot and then turn down to low.
• Place roast over drip pan on the unlit section of the grill. Cover and grill 2 hours or until internal temp reaches 170 degrees. You should maintain an internal grill temp of 300-350 degrees.
• Remove roast to a cutting board and cover loosely with foil and let stand 15 minutes.
• While roast is standing; in a small bowl, stir together cornstarch and water.
• In a saucepan combine reserved marinade and orange juice. Over medium high heat, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low. Simmer 5 minutes. Stir in lime juice ans sugar. Then stir in cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil for 30 seconds or until slightly thickened.
• Set aside. Slice pork about 1/4 inch thick. Rewarm sauce, add cilantro and serve on the side to put over sliced pork.

CUBAN ROAST PORK

Steps:

• Trim fat from roast, if any.
• With a sharp knife, cut tiny holes in roast and insert slivers of garlic.
• In large plastic bag, place remaining ingredients.
• Shake to mix well.
• Place pork roast in bag.
• Place in refrigerator, at least overnight.
• Remove roast from marinade and discard the marinade.
• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
• Place in covered baking pan and cook for 5-6 hours.
• Turn once during baking.