Cuban Roast Pork with Mojo Criollo

Filed under Cuban Pork

Servings: 8

This hearty pork dish is as indigenous to Cuba as black beans. Serve it hot with Mojo Criollo, the powerful garlic sauce; add it cold to a platter of entremeses variados, or use it to build a Media Noche sandwich. From Maria Urrutia, Memories of a Cuban Kitchen.

Ingredients

  • 6 lb Pork leg, or shoulder
  • 6 clove Garlic
  • 1 tsp Oregano, dried
  • 1 tbsp Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Ground cumin
  • Black pepper, freshly ground, to taste
  • 1/2 cup Sour orange juice, Seville, or 1/4 cup sweet orange juice plus 1/8 cup each fresh lime and lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup Sherry, dry, plus more if needed
  • 2 Onion, large, thinly sliced
  • 8 clove Garlic, for the mojo criollo
  • 1 tsp Salt, for the mojo criollo
  • 1 Onion, medium, very thinly sliced, for the mojo criollo
  • 1/2 cup Sour orange juice, or sweet orange juice with lime and lemon juice, for the mojo criollo
  • 1/2 cup Olive oil, pure Spanish, for the mojo criollo

Directions

  1. The night before serving, remove any excess fat from the pork and pierce the meat all over with the tip of a knife. In a mortar, mash the garlic, oregano, salt, and cumin into a paste. Place the pork in a nonreactive pan and rub it well with the paste, sprinkle liberally with pepper, add the orange juice, sherry and onions, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight, turning the meat several times.
  2. About 4 1/2 hours before serving, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the meat from the marinade, pat it dry, and reserve the marinade. Place the pork in a foil-lined roasting pan and roast 1 hour, turning to brown on all sides.
  3. Insert a meat thermometer, not touching the bone. Lower the oven to 325 degrees F, pour the reserved marinade over the pork, cover loosely with foil, and cook another 3 hours or so, turning once and basting frequently, until the meat reaches 180 degrees F. Remove the foil for the last 30 minutes, adding sherry if the meat becomes dry.
  4. Remove the pork to a serving platter and let stand, covered with foil, 15 minutes before carving.
  5. For the mojo criollo: crush the garlic with the salt into a thick paste using a mortar and pestle or food processor. In a bowl, combine the garlic paste, onion, and juice, and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or longer. Just before serving, heat the oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat until very hot, add the garlic mixture quickly (it will splatter), stir, and serve immediately. The sauce keeps several weeks refrigerated; reheat over low heat 6 to 8 minutes.