Cuban Pork (Lechon Asado) Recipe

This tender Cuban pork is full of taste from the within out due to its mojo sauce made with every kind of citrus fruits. Baked to juicy perfection, the trick to this lechon asado recipe is to let it marinate lengthy sufficient.

Flavorful Cuban Roast Mojo Pork

With an irresistible caramelized layer on high, this Cuban pork packs your favourite citrus fruits into one sauce. Baked till it’s fall-apart tender, each slice is an explosion of mojo sauce flavors. 

Marinated for at the least 4 hours, this lechon will transport you on to Havana with out having to go away your kitchen. It’s made with all of its conventional elements, besides the recipe is simplified so that you don’t should dig a gap within the floor in an effort to get pleasure from it. 

Oven-roasted for excessive comfort, it doesn’t get a lot simpler than this juicy Cuban pork. When all you need to do is course of the garlic, make the mojo, marinate, and bake the pork, is there something to complain about? 

It you’re keen on Cuban dishes, make certain to check out my favourite Vaca Frita and Gradual Cooker Ropa Vieja!

What Is Lechon Asado?

Lechon asado, a.ok.a Cuban or Mojo pork , is a typical slow-roasted pork served on particular events. It’s marinated in mojo sauce for notes of citrus and superbly tender meat that melts in your mouth. It’s most frequently served shredded, however will also be sliced and served.

Lechon asado is historically ready by burying an entire pig within the floor and cooking it there. It’s usually wrapped in banana leaves too. Nevertheless, the cooking technique has been simplified to suit trendy kitchens, which is precisely what this recipe is for.

Recipe Elements

It’s time to load up on citrus fruits for this Cuban pork! Verify the recipe card on the backside of the submit for full ingredient quantities.

• Pork Shoulder Roast: Be certain that it’s bone-in.
• Garlic: Recent garlic is essential to get essentially the most taste. Jarred garlic is not going to provide the correct quantity of garlicky punch!
• Onion: White or yellow is okay.
• Olive Oil: Be at liberty to make use of vegetable, corn, or canola oil.
• Oregano
• Salt and Pepper
• Orange Juice: Use freshly squeezed juice for greatest outcomes. If you will discover bitter oranges, they will provide you with the very best genuine taste, nonetheless they are often tough to search out contemporary yr spherical. It’s also possible to use jarred Naranja Agria.
• Limes: You possibly can substitute these for lemons.
• Lemon: Don’t substitute these for all limes as a result of then the pork can prove bitter.

Methods to Make Lechon Asado

Making a fast marinade, marinating the pork, and popping it within the oven isn’t so laborious, is it?

For the Mojo

• Course of the garlic. Place garlic (reserving 10 garlic cloves for later) and onion within the meals processor. Pulse till you make a paste, just like the feel of rice.
• Put together the marinade. Warmth the olive oil in a medium-sized pan over medium-high warmth. Add the onion and garlic combination. Stir properly and let it cook dinner for two minutes.

• Add the orange juice. Add within the oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir to mix and take away from the warmth. Fastidiously stir within the orange juice and freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice. Stir to mix. 
• Put together the pork. Place the roast in a big baking dish with the fats layer dealing with up. Use a pointy knife to rigorously detach the fats from the meat, ensuring to maintain the final 1⁄3 hooked up. (It will assist get a crispy layer on high.) Use the knife to poke about 10 deep holes into the meat. Stuff a garlic clove in every gap. 

• Add the marinade. Reserve 1 cup of the mojo marinade. Pour the remaining excessive of the roast, ensuring to push among the marinade into the garlic holes.
• Marinate it. Cowl the roasting pan with foil. Refrigerate it for at the least 4 hours, or in a single day for essentially the most taste.

To Bake It

• Roast it. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Roast uncovered for 20 minutes. Then decrease the warmth to 225°F and cook dinner for an extra 25 minutes per pound, or till you attain an inner temperature of 145°F. About 2 hours into the roasting time, loosely cowl the pork with foil. 

• Let it relaxation. Take the pork out of the oven however don’t uncover it. Permit the meat to relaxation for 20 minutes earlier than slicing or shredding.
• Serve. Serve the pork with the cooking juices and/or the reserved mojo sauce on the aspect. 

Do I Have To Let The Pork Marinate In a single day?

No, you don’t should. Nevertheless, it is going to let the flavors develop so much higher, making a way more flavorful Cuban pork so I extremely advocate it.

Suggestions for the Finest Cuban Roast Pork

Observe the following tips for the juiciest, most genuine Cuban pork doable:

• Use bitter oranges. In the event you can come up with them, use them to substitute the limes and orange juice within the recipe.
• Select a fatty reduce. Be certain that to get a pork shoulder with a number of fats on high. It will make your lechon asado further juicy and tender because the fats cooks and melts into the meat.
• Don’t elevate the warmth. Let it cook dinner low and sluggish. Elevating the oven’s temperature will lead to powerful pork.
• Meat Thermometer: I extremely advocate utilizing a meat thermometer which you could insert and depart within the pork whereas it cooks. It will be sure you don’t over cook dinner the pork.
• Cowl it. Don’t overlook so as to add aluminum foil to cowl the pork in line with the recipe directions to maintain your pork from drying out.

What to Serve with Mojo Pork

Serve this Cuban pork with all of your favourite Latin dishes! Since we reside in a blended family, we don’t all the time observe the principles and can combine totally different Latin cuisines collectively, so don’t really feel you need to stick to simply conventional Cuban sides! Listed here are just a few of my favourite aspect dishes to go along with this mojo pork:

• Rice and Beans: In fact, rice and beans is the right aspect dish to go alongside aspect nearly each Latin meal. Arroz Blanco (white rice), Mexican Rice, and even Arroz con Gandules would all be scrumptious. As for beans, black beans are most conventional, however serve no matter sort of beans you want greatest…possibly even some Charro Beans?
• Plantains: Tostones (crispy fried plantains) or Maduros (candy pan fried plantains) would each be scrumptious!
• Yuca: Boiled or fried, yuca is all the time welcome on our plates!

Methods to Retailer & Reheat Leftovers

As soon as absolutely cooled, refrigerate this Cuban pork in an hermetic container for as much as 4 days. To reheat it, sprinkle the pork with 1/2-1 teaspoon of water and microwave it in 30-second intervals till heat. It’s also possible to warmth it in a pan over medium-low warmth for 3-4 minutes on both sides.

Extra Pork Recipes

Yield: 10

Lechon Asado

Baked to juicy perfection, this Cuban pork is full of garlic, onion, and citrus flavors from the within out. 

Prep Time
quarter-hour

Cook dinner Time
3 hours

Further Time
4 hours

Complete Time
7 hours quarter-hour

Elements

• 6-8 lb pork bone-in shoulder roast
• 2 heads of garlic, peeled and divided
• 1 giant onion, peeled and sliced

• 1 1⁄2 cups olive oil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (bitter/bitter oranges are greatest!)
• 2 small limes, juiced
• 1 medium lemon, juiced

Directions

1. Place garlic (reserving 10 garlic cloves for later) and onion in a meals processor and pulse till you make a paste.
2. To arrange the Mojo marinade, warmth the olive oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium excessive warmth. Be certain that to not boil the oil. When the oil is heated, add the onion and garlic combination and cook dinner within the oil for two minutes, stirring usually.
3. Add within the oregano, sea salt and pepper. Stir to mix and take away from the warmth supply. Fastidiously stir within the orange juice and freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice. Stir to mix. 
4. Place the roast in a big baking dish with the fats layer dealing with up. With a pointy knife rigorously detach the fats layer from the meat, ensuring to maintain the final 1⁄3 hooked up. (It will assist get a crispy layer on high.) With the sharp knife, poke roughly 10 holes deep into the meat. Stuff a garlic clove in every gap. 
5. Pour all however 1 cup of the mojo marinade evenly excessive of the roast, ensuring to push among the marinade down into the holes and below the pores and skin. 
6. Cowl the roasting pan with foil and place it within the fridge to marinade a minimal of 4 hours, or in a single day for essentially the most taste.
7. When able to roast, preheat the oven to 450°F. Roast uncovered for 20 minutes. Then decrease the warmth to 225°F and cook dinner for an extra 25 minutes per pound, or till you attain an inner temperature of 145°F on a meat thermometer. About 2 hours into the roasting time, loosely tent the pork with foil.
8. Take the pork out of the oven and hold the foil on high. Permit the meat to relaxation for 20 minutes earlier than slicing or shredding.
9. Serve pork with the cooked juices and/or further reserved mojo sauce on the aspect. 

Notes

Storage: As soon as absolutely cooled, refrigerate this Cuban pork in an hermetic container for as much as 4 days. To reheat it, sprinkle the pork with 1/2-1 teaspoon of water and microwave it in 30-second intervals till heat. It’s also possible to warmth it in a pan over medium-low warmth for 3-4 minutes on both sides.

Bitter Oranges: If you cannot discover bitter oranges, you should use common oranges. Or, you should buy jarred bitter orange juice – Naranja Agria.

Diet Data:

Yield:

10

Serving Dimension:

1

Quantity Per Serving:
Energy: 5500Complete Fats: 335gSaturated Fats: 111gTrans Fats: 2gUnsaturated Fats: 190gLdl cholesterol: 1916mgSodium: 1667mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 575g

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