Cuban Style Oven Roasted Pork Recipes

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).

CUBAN-STYLE OVEN-ROASTED PORK

Steps:

• TO BRINE THE PORK: With sharp paring knife, cut 1-inch-deep slits (about 1 inch long) all over roast, spaced about 2 inches apart. Dissolve sugar and salt in 6 quarts cold water in stockpot or large bucket. Stir in garlic and orange juice. Submerge pork in brine and refrigerate 18 to 24 hours.
• TO APPLY THE GARLIC-CITRUS PASTE: Process garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper in food processor until they reach consistency of coarse paste, about ten 1-second pulses. With machine running, add orange juice, vinegar, and oil through feed tube and process until mixture forms smooth, wet paste, about 20 seconds. Remove pork from brine and rinse under cool running water; pat dry with paper towels. Rub paste all over pork and into slits. Refrigerate pork while oven is preheating to 325 degrees with rack in lower-middle position.
• TO ROAST THE PORK: Place pork with skin side down on wire rack set over rimmed baking sheet or in roasting pan with rack. Cook, uncovered, 3 hours. Flip roast skin side up and continue to cook until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of meat registers 190 degrees, about 3 hours more, lightly tenting roast with foil if skin begins to get too dark.
• Transfer roast to cutting board and let rest 1 hour. To carve, first remove skin in one large piece. Scrape off and discard top layer of fat, then cut pork away from bone in 3 or 4 large pieces. Slice each piece against grain into 1/4-inch slices. To serve skin, scrape excess fat from underside and cut into strips. Drizzle Mojo Sauce (see related recipe) over pork just before serving.

CUBAN-STYLE ROAST PORK

Steps:

• Transfer to the refrigerator: Marinate the pork for 4-12 hours in the refrigerator. If the pork is not fully covered in the marinade, turn it over during the marinating time to make sure it's getting all it can from the mojo. Because I usually begin marinating my pork roast the evening before cooking it, I usually turn it in the morning after it's marinated overnight.
• Heat the oven to 350°F
• Rest the meat: When the roast is ready, remove it from the oven. The top will be beautifully caramelized from the sugars and the aromatics that were in the mojo. Loosely cover the roast with a large piece of aluminum foil and allow it to rest for 15 minutes while you heat the reserved 1 1/2 cups of mojo sauce. Mojo is pungent and can be overwhelming in its raw form. To serve it as a sauce, it's best to cook it to soften the harshness a bit.
• Make a slurry: In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon from the reserved mojo and stir together until no lumps of cornstarch remain.
• Serve the roast pork and sauce: After the pork has rested, which allows the juices to settle down and not run everywhere when you cut it, use a carving knife to slice the roast. Serve it with a side of rice and beans and plantains. Pour the sauce over the sliced portions of pork after serving. LEFTOVERS! Leftovers may be refrigerated for 2-3 days and reheated in the microwave or, my favorite way, by lightly sautéing in a skillet with a bit of mojo sauce until warmed through. Any leftover mojo sauce should be covered and stored in the refrigerator.

CUBAN-STYLE ROAST PORK

Steps:

• Using a small knife, make 1-inch long incisions in the skin of the pork shoulder about 2 inches apart.
• Combine 3 Tbs of the lime juice, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano in a small bowl.
• Rub this mixture into the slashes and along the underside of the pork.
• Combine the remaining lime juice, vinegar, grapefruit juice, orange juice, and adobo seasoning in a bowl large enough to hold the meat.
• Add the pork, skin side up.
• Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally.
• Remove from the refrigerator an hour before cooking.
• To cook, preheat oven to 300ºF.
• Transfer the pork and its marinade to a roasting pan.
• Cover the pan with a lid or aluminum foil and roast until very tender, about 5 hours.
• Let cool slightly in the liquid, then transfer the pork to a cutting board and discard the skin and excess fat.
• Slice and serve.

CUBAN ROAST PULLED PORK

Steps:

• Directions (Oven Version with Crackling):.
• Puree the garlic, onion, orange juice, lime juice, rum, olive oil, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender, place 2/3 of the mixture into a large sealable bag with the pork and marinate in the fridge overnight.
• Pull the pork out of the fridge 1 hour before roasting, take it out of the bag, set it with its skin side up, wipe the skin dry and let sit for 1 hour.
• Score the skin in 1/2 inch intervals and rub salt generously into the skin.
• Place the pork in a roasting pan, skin side up, roast in a preheated 450F oven for 20 minutes or until the skin has become crackling, ie it has become golden, hardened and crispy.
• Reduce the heat to 325F and roast until the pork reaches 170F for slicing or 195F for shredding, about 2-3 hours or 4-6 hours respectively. If the skin starts to get too dark tent it loosely with foil without folding the edges over to prevent steaming.
• Let the pork rest for 15 minutes, remove crackling and cut into small pieces, discard any extra fat and then slice or shred the pork. Remove the fat from the juices and serve with sliced pork or mix into shredded pork.
• Meanwhile heat 2 tablespoons of the juices from the roasting pan in a pan over medium-high heat, add the onion and saute until tender and caramelized, about 7-10 minutes.
• Serve the pork with the caramelized onions and remaining mojo.
• Directions (Slow Cooker Version):.
• Puree the garlic, onion, orange juice, lime juice, rum, olive oil, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender, place 2/3 of the mixture into a large sealable bag with the pork and marinate in the fridge overnight.
• Place the pork in a slow cooker/crock-pot with the skin side up along with the marinade and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
• Let the pork rest for 15 minutes, discard the fat layer and then shred the pork.
• Meanwhile heat 2 tablespoons of the juices from the slow cooker/crock-pot in a pan over medium-high heat, add the onion and saute until tender and caramelized, about 7-10 minutes.
• Serve the pork with the caramelized onions and remaining mojo.
• Tip: Mix some mojo into the pork after pulling it; man is that mojo ever good! Make sure to make enough pork to make Cuban Sandwiches with leftovers!