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1
Make the Mojo
10 Mins
Room temperature
Crush 8 of the garlic cloves and whisk them with the orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper in a bowl. Taste it — it should be bright, garlicky and punchy. If you can buy bottled sour orange juice (naranja agria), use 360ml of it instead of the orange and lime juice.
The mojo should make your mouth water on its own; if it tastes flat, add more lime juice, not more salt.
Done when: A cloudy, garlicky citrus marinade that smells strongly of garlic and orange.
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2
Score and Marinate Overnight
20 Mins + 12 Hours Marinating
Fridge, ~4°C (40°F)
Cut 4 deep slits into the pork with a paring knife and push a whole garlic clove into each one. Put the shoulder in a large dish, pour the mojo over it and rub it into every cut and crevice, skin side up. Tuck the onion rings around the meat, cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, turning the pork once halfway through.
Keep the skin side up in the marinade so it stays dry — wet skin never crisps.
Done when: The pork is coated in mojo on all sides; the slits are stuffed with garlic.
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3
Roast Low and Slow
270 Mins
165°C (325°F); pork to 90°C (195°F)
Heat the oven to 165°C (325°F). Put the pork skin-side up in a roasting pan with the marinade and onions underneath, cover loosely with foil and roast for about 4.5 hours, basting with the pan juices every hour. The pork is done when it is fork-tender and pulls apart easily — the internal temperature should reach about 90°C (195°F), well past the 63°C (145°F) food-safety minimum, because that high temperature is what melts the collagen.
Do not rush the roast: a shoulder pulled at 74°C (165°F) is safe but tough; it needs the long, slow climb to 90°C (195°F) to fall apart.
Done when: A fork twists easily in the meat and shreds come away without resistance.
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4
Crisp the Skin
15 Mins
230°C (450°F)
Take the foil off, raise the oven to 230°C (450°F) and roast for 15 minutes, watching closely, until the skin is golden and crackling. If the skin is still soft, give it 5 more minutes — but watch it, because it goes from crisp to burnt fast.
Pat the skin dry with paper towel before the hot blast if it looks wet — dry skin crisps, wet skin steams.
Done when: The skin is deep golden, blistered and crackly when tapped.
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5
Rest and Make the Pan Sauce
30 Mins
Resting, ~60°C (140°F)
Lift the pork onto a board and rest it for 30 minutes before slicing or pulling — the juices need time to settle. Meanwhile, pour the pan juices into a small pan, skim off the excess fat, and warm them gently for 2 minutes. Slice or pull the pork and spoon the warm pan juices over it.
Resting is not wasted time: a shoulder cut straight from the oven sheds its juices onto the board instead of keeping them.
Done when: The pork slices cleanly or pulls into shreds, moist all the way through.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Serve the pork piled on a platter with the pan juices spooned over, the crackling broken into pieces on top. It is a dish for sharing: everyone takes what they want, with black beans, yellow rice and fried plantains on the side.
Cuba
3h
