Lechon Asado (Roasted Pork Shoulder)

We had a wonderful Nochebuena.  We ate and opened presents all day long.  We had our traditional Cuban Lechon and Puerto Rican Habichuelas and finished off the night with chocolate Flan. Only this year, I brined our pork roast first to give the meat more flavor all the way through. We ate until we could barely move only to dig into leftovers the next day!

Brine:

7 1/2 cups water
6 tablespoons kosher salt
15 cloves garlic smashed and chopped
1 onion chopped
1 package Goya seasoning
1 teaspoon dry oregano

1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon pepper

5 lb Pork Shoulder (my butcher tied it up)

Marinade:
1 cup Olive Oil
10 cloves garlic
1 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon dry oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat water over high heat until salt dissolves. Take off heat and allow to cool completely before you add to pork. You can speed up cool down process in refrigerator once is is slightly cooled if needed.

Once brine is cooled, add to non reactive pot. Add pork roast and refrigerate for approx 12 hours.

Once ready, rinse brine off pork, dry and add to large roasting pan.  In food processor, grind garlic with generous pour of olive oil and seasoning. Pour over pork with fruit juices and additional salt and pepper.  Marinate for at least 4 hours in refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Take out of refrigerator 30 minutes before you cook so meat can become room temperature. Reserve marinade and dry off pork. Roast for approx 2 1/2 hours. Baste with reserved marinade and take temperate of meat. At this point, my 5 lb roast was approx 150 degrees but skin was soft so I increased heat to 400 degrees for approx 45 minutes until center of pork read 175 degrees and skin was crispy.  Cooking time will depend on size of your roast.

Remove string and serve

Some ingredients used: