I’ll have to admit that I tried making Cuban Roast Pork last year and it didn’t turn out good. At all. As in, it was the only dish that I’ve EVER cooked which didn’t pass my expectations. The only reason why is because I cooked it for around 3-4 hours, when you should really bake it for 6-8 hours at a low temperature.

I cleared my schedule this past Saturday because I knew my Cuban feast was going to be a full day affair of cooking. On the menu was the roast, black beans and rice, and plantains.

After cooking the roast for around 7 hours I was STARVING. And it didn’t help at all that my house smelled like delicious roasted garlic with a nice citrus smell.

The verdict… Wow I couldn’t eat it fast enough. Seriously I took less than a handful of photos when I usually take a bunch because I was so excited to eat. The roast was TO DIE FOR, and the black beans and rice + plantain combo was amazing as well.

Make this at home, you won’t regret it!

CUBAN ROAST PORK

Ingredients

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon orange zest
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup lightly packed mint leaves, finely chopped
13 garlic cloves, 8 minced for the marinade; 5 punctured in meat
1 tablespoon minced oregano (2 teaspoons dried oregano)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
Kosher salt and pepper
3 and 1/2 pounds bone in pork shoulder, in one piece* Lots of fat
Onions

Instructions

If you have a food processor: Add the orange juice, cilantro leaves, mint leaves, and smashed (not minced) garlic cloves, and pulse until everything is finely chopped. Add this mixture to a ziplock bag, along with the rest of the oil, zest, lime juice, oregano, and cumin.
Add cut onions into the ziplock mixture
Use a sharp knife to create deep 1 inchg wide x deep gashes all over the flesh / skin and put pork into marinade. Make sure to insert garlic into the meat (5-8 cloves)
Place the zipped up bag in a baking dish, and put it in the fridge overnight, flipping halfway
Remove the pork from the marinade and place it on a platter. Make sure it is out 2 hr before cooking. The marinade is now ready to use as a basting liquid.
Place the pork on the rack and discard the marinade. Salt and pepper the pork well.

TO COOK
Place the pork shoulder on aluminum lined sheet pan (fat side up), add the mojo to the sheet pan. Add pork stock to make sure it comes to around 1/2 an inch high. Make sure there’s always hot liquid at the bottom to mix with the drippings. Keep some liquid aside for basting

Cover with a loose aluminum tent.

Roast at 275F for at least 6 hours(5 1/2 hours for 3.5 pound roast), up to 8 hours, until internal temperature reads 220F or fork tender. Make sure to baste.

Remove from oven. Bring oven to 450F.

Remove the aluminum tent & place uncovered roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until skin is golden & crispy.