My wife is half Cuban. Her aunt in Miami used to make a classic Cuban pork dish and they’d ship it up to Virginia for Christmas dinner. Tonight I made the dish for her. Lechon asado with Cuban black beans and rice. Along with the Cuban sandwich ( made from this recipe), Ropa vieja, arroz con pollo and a couple of other dishes this is one of the classic Cuban dishes.
It starts with a mojo which is a marinade. First the garlic paste. This recipe calls for a lot of garlic.
Garlic, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper combined
Add olive oil to make a paste
Make deep slices into a pork shoulder to work the paste into the meat
Now comes the marinade. A lot of recipes call for orange juice and lime juice. No. That does not work. You need Seville oranges (bitter oranges) or it will not be right. Trust me, I’ve tried that recipe. You can use this orange juice as it is from Seville oranges. Also pictured is the olive oil I use which is a fantastic olive oil.
into the pot to marinate for 24 hours along with two onions sliced into rings
Also soaking for 24 hours are the black beans
time to bring it all together. Bacon, olive oil, garlic, onions, cumin, salt and pepper for the black beans
The pork roasts for about four hours. While it’s roasting I take those onion rings and caramelize them. Every had citrusy, caramelized onions? They’re amazing.
The finished product.