This Puerco Asado (Cuban-style Oven Roasted Pork) recipe is a great alternative when you can't cook a full pig out on the BBQ pit. The key to cooking a good Puerco Asado is marinate it well and cook it low and slow.
Ingredients
Mojo
20-30 cloves Garlic, mashed
1 cup Onion, minced
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper, ground
1½ cups Badia Sour Orange Juice or comparable brand (If you can't get sour orange juice in your area, use 1 cup orange, ¼ cup lemon and ¼ cup lime)
Mash the garlic, salt, and pepper together with a mortar and pestle.
In a mixing bowl, add the garlic/salt/pepper mixture, oregano, basil, paprika, cumin, onion, sour orange, sherry & olive oil to make a mash -- mix thoroughly.
Marinate the pork
Strain half the marinade into a bowl, adding the strained-out mash to the other half of the marinade.
Using a flavor injector, pierce the pork with the tip of the needle and inject marinade into the flesh. Do this all over the meat until the strained marinade has been used up.
Next, pierce the pork as many times as you can with a sharp knife or fork.
Pour remaining marinade mixture (save a little of the liquid for roasting) over pork working pieces of garlic and onion into the pierced holes in the meat.
Cover and let sit in refrigerator preferably overnight or for at least 2-3 hours if overnight is not possible.
Roast pork
When ready to roast in the oven, preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Place the marinated pork picnic shoulder, fattiest side up, in an open roasting pan.
Place pan in oven, uncovered and cook at this temperature for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, reduce temperature to 300 degrees and continue cooking.
Spoon extra marinade over the roast occasionally (every couple hours) as it cooks.
After a few hours, you can decide to cover with aluminum foil if skin reached desired degree of charredness. This will also keep moisture in and keep your pork moist throughout.
Using a meat thermometer, roast should be removed from the oven when the internal temperature reaches 195 degrees, for fork tender, "pulled-pork" quality. (If you want a roast you can slice, remove when the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees)
Immediately cover with foil and let rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
Be sure to use a meat thermometer, not a clock to determine doneness of your pork. Times can vary depending on the size of your roast and the oven you are using. Could be anywhere from 6 - 8 hours.
Whatever you do, PLEASE do not keep opening the oven frequently and letting out the heat. Low and slow... Trust the recipe.
Inspired by a dish my Abuela Mima used to make every year for Noche Buena.
Recipe by All Kinds of Recipes at https://allkindsofrecipes.com/2014/05/puerco-asado-cuban-style-oven-roasted-pork/