Pernil - Puerto Rican Pork Shoulder

By carvalhohm

Wow this tender, moist pork dish is incredibly delicious! I only marinated the pork for 8 hours which turned out awesome but next time will do the full two days to see if what I considered was perfect to be even better.

Ingredients

• 8 pounds picnic pork shoulder
• 12 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 ⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar
• 8 teaspoons salt (or 1 teaspoon of salt per pound of meat if you are using a smaller cut of meat)

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from food.com

Preparation

Step 1

Wash the pork shoulder. With a sharp knife, make 1 inch deep cuts into the pork.

With mortar and pestle crush garlic, oregano and black pepper together. Add olive oil, vinegar and salt. Mix well.

Spoon some of the garlic mixture inside the small cuts around the pork, and spread remaining mixture all over the pork.

Place pork in an aluminum turkey pan (skin side up); cover with aluminum foil tightly. Refrigerate at least 8 hours. (I have marinated this for as long as two days).

Bake in pre-heated 325°F oven for about 5 to 6 hours.

Remove aluminum foil and bake at 375°F for another hour or until skin is crisp. Closely watch this so you don't burn the skin (chicharrone). Pork should be well-done and tender.

In additional to the garlic you can use half a jar of olives with pimentos, a whole cup of fresh cilantro, one onion, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/3 of jar of olive brine and fresh lime juice from two limes. Two packets of Sazon and two tablespoons or so of adobo. All in the food processor to form a paste. You can use an electric carving knife to cut 1 inch slits going all the way around the bone to the bone. (looks like an accordion) Then poured the marinade over it and massaged it in. Marinate before cooking for 2 days in the fridge.