Pork
Pernil
Garlic roast pork shoulder with crackling skin. Nochebuena’s centerpiece.
300 minServes 12
Ingredients
Grab it in the aisles — or shop this store on Instacart.
- 8–10 lbpork shoulder, skin on
- 1 headgarlic
- 2 TbspBadia oregano
- 2 TbspGoya Adobo
- ½ cupGoya naranja agria (or lime juice)
- ¼ cupGoya olive oil
- 1 Tbspsalt, for the skin
How to make it
- 1
The day before: peel the whole head of garlic. Mash it with oregano, adobo, naranja agria, and olive oil into a paste.
- 2
Pat the pork dry. With a sharp knife, make deep holes all over the meat (not the skin). Push the paste into every hole and rub the rest over the meat. Salt the skin generously. Refrigerate overnight, skin up, uncovered if you can — dry skin crisps better.
- 3
Heat the oven to 325°. Set the pork skin-up on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast about 35 minutes per pound (roughly 4½–6 hours for 8–10 lb) until a thermometer in the thickest part reads 185°.
- 4
Raise the oven to 450°. Roast 15–25 minutes more until the cuerito puffs and crackles. Watch so it does not burn.
- 5
Rest 30 minutes. Chop the meat. Break the cuerito into pieces. Serve with rice and tostones if you have them.