Description
This singlehandedly is the signature Cuban dish; it is the heart of Cuban cuisine. Simple to prepare and like nothing you have ever tasted before, this dish is most certainly a crowd pleaser.
Ingredients
Scale
- 5 lbs pork shoulder, bone in or boneless
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 cup lemon juice
- 1 cup lime juice
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 onions, sliced
- 2½ tbsp. MarnaMaria Carne Criolla
- 3 tbsp. Kosher salt
Instructions
- In a bowl or ziplock bag large enough for the pork, combine the orange, lemon and lime juices, garlic, onions, and MARNAMARIA Carne Criolla blend.
- Take the pork and with a sharp knife, make several deep cuts into the meat. Season the meat well with the salt, make sure the salt gets in the some of the knife holes as well.
- Place the pork in the large bowl or plastic bag and cover or seal. If using a plastic bag, try to get as much of the air out as possible.
- Place in the refrigerator and let marinade for at least 4 hours and for as long as 36 hours. If you can, flip the bag every so often to let both sides brine evenly.
- When ready to cook, preheat oven to 325ºF.
- Remove the pork from the bag or bowl, and place, fat side up, in a large roasting pan without a rack. Then pour over the onions and marinate.
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast for 5-7 hours or until fork tender, basting the pork every 30 minutes. You may need to remove some the juices from the pan to keep it from overflowing and to allow the pork to cook a little bit better. Use a ladle or spoon to remove some of the juices, and reserve them to the side. They will make an amazing sauce for later!
- When the pork is just about done, uncover, raise the oven temperature to 375ºF. Scrape off any onions or garlic from the pork skin on top. Then cook the pork for an additional 30 minutes to allow the top to brown and the skin to crisp up.
- The pork is ready when it is fork tender, easily falls off the bone and the skin is crispy. If you like, you can use a probe thermometer. The pork should be done when the thermometer reads 190ºF.
- Let cool for 10 minutes, covered. Shred the pork using the reserved juices as a sauce.
Notes
For the fruit juices, orange, lemon, and lime, you can use freshly squeeze fruit but just this one time, the shelf stable works just as well. Sometimes, I will use a combination of both fresh and pasterized.
Keywords: Cuban Food, Pork, Citrus, Lechon