Passport & Plate - Lechon Asado: The Best of Cuba
Cuba | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 1 photos
Ingredients
3-4 lb pork shoulder or loin, untrimmed
20 cloves garlic (about 2 heads)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 oranges, juiced
4 lemons, juiced
6 limes, juiced
2 medium onions, minced
2 tsp dried oregano (or 2 tbsp fresh oregano)
1 ½ c olive oil
How to prepare this recipeFirst, we make a mojo to marinate the pork. In Cuban cooking, a mojo is a combination of garlic, citrus juice, and olive oil.
To make the mojo, use a mortar and pestle or food processor. Combine the garlic and salt and chop or mash them together. Add the oregano, pepper, onion, and the juices and puree well. The mash should be smooth with small chunks.
Heat the olive oil in a small sauce pan, then add the mash to the oil and stir it together. Bring the mojo to a low simmer, then remove from the heat.
Pierce the pork all over with a fork, then pour the mojo over the pork. Cover and let the pork marinate overnight (or at least a few hours if in a hurry).
To roast the pork, scrape off excess marinade and place pork fatty side up in an open roasting pan. Roast at 325 degrees for 1.5 to 2 hours, basting every 30 minutes.
Before basting, boil marinade for 5 minutes for the sake of food safety.
Remove the pork from the oven, cover with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes.
Thinly slice pork and serve with remaining marinade.
The story behind this recipeA few years back, I stumbled upon a local restaurant named Havana Rumba. Fresh out of a relationship that didn't include much in the way of adventurous dining out, I was looking for something with more flavor and soul than the standard chain restaurant
On my first visit, I tried the lechon asado with fried plantains. Plus two mojitos. Or maybe three. I rarely stick to the same item on a menu, but every time I visit Havana Rumba, I can't bring myself to try anything else. Lechon asado is simply one of those perfect flavor combinations that, no matter how many times I tell myself to get the ropa vieja or camarones al ajillo, I am drawn back to this meal.
It's not just the lechon asado though. There's something about Cuban cuisine that draws me in. Maybe it's that I can't legally travel to Cuba (yet), adding the allure of forbidden fruit. Or maybe it's the combination of sweet, salty, and sour flavors from the fusion of native Taino food with influences from Spanish, African, and Dutch cooking that make my taste buds do back flips.
Whatever it is, I had to recreate it in my own kitchen. While I typically aim to mimic the original recipe, sometimes it's difficult due to the limited availability of certain ingredients. For instance, this recipe would traditionally use the Seville (also "bitter" or "sour") orange, but those are hard to come by in the United States and would require finding a specialty market, something most people are not interested in.
Instead, we approximate the flavor with the combination of orange, lemon, and lime juices, which can be found in any grocery store, just a few yards from the pork shoulders. This change, as well as using a much smaller cut of pork than the traditional suckling pig, allows every home chef to bring the flavors of this tropical Caribbean island to their own table, without too much worry or fuss.
Match this with a mojito and sides of fried plantains and arroz con frijoles for a quick trip to the islands.
