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1
Make the aliño and marinate
20 minutes + overnight rest
Cold — refrigerator, about 4°C (39°F)
Crush the garlic, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper into a paste. Stir in the achiote, chopped onion, orange juice and beer. Score the pork skin in a diamond pattern, rub the marinade all over the leg and deep into the scores, then cover and refrigerate overnight, turning the leg once.
Do not skip the overnight rest — a thick leg needs the time, and the beer and orange juice tenderise as well as flavour.
Done when: Leg is evenly coated, marinade worked into every score.
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2
Bring to room temperature
10 minutes
Room temperature, about 20°C (68°F)
Take the pork out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before roasting and let it come to room temperature. Pat the skin dry with paper towels — dry skin is what turns to crackling. Set the leg skin-side up in a roasting pan and pour the remaining marinade around it.
Wet skin steams instead of crisping. Pat it dry twice if you have to — this is the whole secret of the crackling.
Done when: Skin is dry to the touch; leg sits skin-side up in the pan.
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3
Slow-roast, covered
190 minutes
160°C (325°F)
Heat the oven to 160°C (325°F). Cover the pan tightly with foil and roast for about 3 hours, basting with the pan juices every 30 minutes. Melt the butter with a spoonful of achiote and brush it over the leg each time you baste. The meat should be nearly tender and the pan juices rich and red-gold.
Baste on schedule — the juices keep the meat moist and build the colour. If the pan dries out, add a splash of beer, not water.
Done when: Meat is nearly tender; pan juices are rich and red-gold.
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4
Uncover and crisp the skin
50 minutes
220°C (425°F)
Take the foil off, raise the oven to 220°C (425°F) and roast for about 50 minutes more, basting twice, until the skin is deep golden, blistered and crisp. The thickest part of the meat must reach at least 71°C (160°F), and the meat should pull apart easily with a fork.
If the skin is browning too fast in spots, shield those spots with a little foil — but do not cover the whole leg or the skin will soften again.
Done when: Skin is deep golden, blistered and crisp; meat reaches 71°C (160°F) and pulls apart.
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5
Rest the roast
15 minutes
Resting — cooling from 71°C (160°F)
Lift the leg onto a board and rest for 15 minutes before slicing. The juices settle back into the meat and the skin stays crisp while it rests.
Cutting into a roast straight from the oven lets the juices run out onto the board instead of staying in the meat.
Done when: Juices have settled; the leg holds together when sliced.
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6
Slice and serve
5 minutes
Serving hot, above 60°C (140°F)
Carve the meat into thick slices and crack the skin into shards. Serve each plate with a generous slice of pork, a piece of crackling, mote, llapingachos, curtido and a spoonful of agrio over the top.
Slice against the grain for tender pieces, and keep a shard of crackling on every plate — it is the best part.
Done when: Plates are piled high with sliced pork, crackling, mote and salads.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Spoon the agrio over the pork at the table and eat a little of everything in the same bite — the rich pork, the sharp onion salad, the soft mote and the crisp skin are meant to meet together.
Ecuador
30m
