Puerto Rican Pernil
Original Recipe
Notes
If using store-bought sazón and adobo, reduce the amount of salt listed below by half.
Ingredients
- 1 10 lb pork shoulder, bone in, and skin on
10 cloves of garlic
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup fresh sofrito
¼ cup sea salt
3 tablespoons white vinegar or fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons salt-free adobo
1 ½ tablespoon salt-free sazón
1 ½ tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
Directions
- Clean your pork shoulder thoroughly with cold water and vinegar, then pat it dry with a clean paper towel.
- Using a sharp knife, carefully slice the skin away from the skin so that it is no longer covering the meat, but still attached to the shoulder. Stab as many deep holes into the exposed sides of the meat as possible.
- In a food processor, pulse together the oil, sofrito, salt, and remaining spices a few times to create a roughly chopped paste. Spread the paste all over the exposed sides of the meat, making sure to shove the paste into the holes you created. It is important to keep the skin completely dry and unseasoned at this point.
- Place the dry skin back over the exposed top of the pork shoulder and wrap the entire shoulder tightly in saran wrap before storing skin-side-down in the fridge for 12–48 hours. Before you start roasting, place about 10 toothpicks into a bowl of water to soak.
- When you are ready to roast your pernil, remove the saran wrap, peel back the skin, and remove any excess marinade from the skin.
- Preheat your oven to 400°F at this point.
- While the oven is heating up, place the presoaked toothpicks all over the top of the exposed pork shoulder, then carefully drape the unseasoned skin over the top of the toothpicks so that the skin is covering as much of the exposed meat as possible without actually touching it. The point of this step is to increase the air circulation underneath the skin for optimal crispiness.
- Cover the pernil with aluminum foil and place it in the oven for 1 to 1.5 hours.
- Remove the foil after 1.5 hours, lower the oven temperature to 375°F, and continue to roast the pernil for an additional 3–4 hours, or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone. Near the end of the roasting process, you can baste the skin with some of the oil that has collected at the bottom of the pan to make it extra crispy.
- When your pernil is done, remove it from the oven and let it rest for at least 30 minutes before removing the toothpicks, cutting away the chicharrón, and shredding the meat.
- Serve on a giant platter and enjoy!
Information
- Category
- Main Dishes, Pork
- Yield
- 12–15 servings
- Prep Time
- 12 hours
- Cook Time
- 5 hours
- Total Time
- 16 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds