Pernil
- Total Time
- At least 3 hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1pork shoulder, 4 to 7 pounds (or use fresh ham)
- 4or more cloves garlic, peeled
- 1large onion, quartered
- 2tablespoons fresh oregano leaves or 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1tablespoon ground cumin
- 1teaspoon ancho or other mild chili powder
- 1tablespoon salt
- 2teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil as needed
- 1tablespoon wine or cider vinegar
- Lime wedges for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
814 calories; 63 grams fat; 20 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 30 grams monounsaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 54 grams protein; 1061 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Score meat’s skin with a sharp knife, making a cross-hatch pattern. Pulse garlic, onion, oregano, cumin, chili, salt and pepper together in a food processor, adding oil in a drizzle and scraping down sides as necessary, until mixture is pasty. (Alternatively, mash ingredients in a mortar and pestle.) Blend in the vinegar.
- Step 2
Rub this mixture well into pork, getting it into every nook and cranny. Put pork in a roasting pan and film bottom with water. Roast pork for several hours (a 4-pound shoulder may be done in 3 hours), turning every hour or so and adding more water as necessary, until meat is very tender. Finish roasting with the skin side up until crisp, raising heat at end of cooking if necessary.
- Step 3
Let meat rest for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting it up; meat should be so tender that cutting it into uniform slices is almost impossible; rather, whack it up into chunks. Serve with lime.
Private Notes
Comments
I've made pernil a few times and the author is missing a fey key steps. 1- The skin should be cut back from the meat in order for it to crisp up. 2 Cut 1-inch slots throughout the pork shoulder and stuff the paste inside to let the flavors run through. 3- The pork shoulder should marinate refrigerated for at least 6 hours, up to 3 days. 4- During the last 30-60 minutes you can increase the oven temp to aid with crisping the skin
Hope you give the recipe a try it's one if my favorites!
My nephew cooks a heavenly pernil. He covers the pan with foil, then lifts it for the final cooking, so the skin becomes deliciously crispy. He makes very deep cuts and gets the adobo inside, that's how the flavor gets to the bone. He lets the pork marinate for 2 days. The meat is very tender and juicy. Instead of water he uses beer.
That's b/c a few key steps are missing from these instructions. I grew up in a Puerto Rican family and pernil turns out amazing every time.
1. Cut top layer of fat back to where it flaps over roast, THEN score top.
2. Rub marinade inside DEEP cuts in roast.
3. MARINATE for 2-3 days! Fat side down first day, then flip on other days. Up to 3 days
4. Try using powdered Adobo instead of plain salt.
Marinating is key! Pernil will not taste nearly as flavorful without this step. Hope that helps!
For marinating it in the fridge, instead of a pan, I put it in a really big soup pot—also covered the plastic wrapped pernil with newspaper to absorb odors—This seems to have kept the garlic aromas inside the pot and the pernil, instead of permeating the fridge—tiny hint.
Cook to 190 degrees. Leave the fat on. Cover the pork while cooking
This was delicious, but it did not reminded me the pernil how they cooked it when I was growing up in Puerto Rico. We called it the "American pernil". We did separate the skin from the top like it was suggested and it was crispy and tasty.