This past weekend we were in Miami, stopping over on what we hoped would be a dive trip to Cayman Brac. Unfortunately, the coronavirus made other plans for us and we ended up turning back. However, we had an excellent dinner at La Rosa and the Cuban Roast Pork Shoulder stole the show and I decided I just had to make some when we got home.
A quick web search turned up a recipe on Serious Eats. This is a trusted source for me and proved to be an excellent starting point. As usual, I deviated from the published recipe whether due to ingredients on hand or personal preference. The Mojo sauce is used both as a marinade before roasting and the reserved portion is part of the sauce for the cooked meat. I had forgotten to pick up fresh citrus when I got the roast, so concentrate was used along with dried herbs (it is still winter here in Wisconsin) .
Mojo Sauce ingredients
8 cloves of garlic very finely minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp fresh (finely) ground black pepper
1/2 cup limeade concentrate – Minute Maid is our favorite as it has less sugar than many brands
1/4c raspberry lemonade concentrate
1/2 c water
Mix the ingredients well and reserve half for serving later
If you have fresh fruit that is preferable, but the concentrate worked out well.
Prepare the pork
5-6 lb pork shoulder – a.k.a. Boston Butt
Remove the bone and the larger pieces of fat, slicing along the muscle lines. You should end up with 4-6 good sized pieces with the majority of the fat removed. I pull the fat off as I do not like the consistency of the remaining fatty tissue once the fat renders off.
Add 1/2 of the Mojo and marinate overnight, turning a few times.
Roasting
Place the pork in a large dutch oven with all of the sauce it was marinated in. Add 1 c water. Salt the surface with 1 tsp fine salt. Cover and roast at 275F for 3 hours
Uncover and roast at 325F for an additional 2-3 hours. Baste every 30 min or so. Make sure the liquid under the fat does not all evaporate, add more water if necessary. The Meat will get nice and brown and crunchy on the surface
Remove from the oven. Remove the pork from the pan and cool for 15 min. Separate the drippings removing as much of the fat as you can without losing too much of the tasty part underneath. Add the remaining mojo sauce and microwave for 2-3 min. Add 1 TBsp of red wine or cider vinegar to taste (cust the sweetness and fattiness).
Pull the pork apart and add the sauce, mixing well.
Serve with black beans and rice and enjoy . If you have some fresh lime to squeeze over it, all the better.
Mark Bronkalla