Sunday, November 07, 2004

Spicy Roasted Pork


4 lb pork shoulder roast (bone in)
For the marinade:
6 habaneros, seeded
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
Juice of 4 limes
1/2 c. orange juice
1/4 c. kosher salt
1/4 c. sugar
For roasting:
freshly ground black pepper
pasilla chile powder
chipotle chile powder
coarsely ground cumin
coarsely ground coriander
sweet paprika
manteca de color

Make the marinade: Throw the peppers and garlic in a food processor and process until very finely chopped. Add the onion and process more until finely chopped. Add the juices, salt, and sugar and pulse a few times to blend.
Marinate the roast: Put the pork and marinade in suitable container (I used a 1 gallon zip-loc bag) and let it sit for at least 4-6 hours. Turn it every once in a while and make sure that the roast is nicely covered in marinadey goodness.
Bake it: Preheat the oven to 350. Pull the roast out of the marinade and put it in a baking pan (preferably non-stick). Drizzle with a tablespoon or so of manteca de color. Sprinkly liberally with the other spices. Press the spices in. Flip the roast and repeat that process. Strain the remaining marinade and throw the pulp in the bottom of the pan (the liquid is too salty for my tastes, so I discard it... if you think it's ok, then skip the straining and add everything). Put the pan in the oven and bake for 3-4 hours (determine done-ness with a fork test). Check on the roast every half hour or so and spoon some of the liquid from the bottom of the pan over the roast. Add some water to the pan if it's getting dry.
Serve in slices, topped with a bit of the pan juices. Serve with tortillas, avocados, chopped 'tro and lime.

This didn't end up being as hot as I was hoping for, so for leftovers I'm going to supplement it with chopped habaneros with 'tro in lime juice.


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