Boshizzle
somebody shut me the fark up.
I cooked a 100# hog in the La Caja China last Friday. After some tips from Sledneck and SmokeInDaEye, the cook went pretty well and everyone enjoyed the food. For those wondering, La Caja China (pronounced LA CAHA CHEENAH) is not a reference to where the box is made or where it came from. In fact, the one I have was made in the USA. The name comes from the claim that Chinese immigrants to Cuba in the 19th century used to put food in boxes with a fire on top to cook the food. The Cubans took the idea and began cooking in the boxes too and called the box La Caja China (The Chinese Box). However, Mathew Masters wrote an interesting article about the La Caja China with a different view of the history of the cookers.
"Seemingly, there is as much mystery surrounding the origins of the "caja china" as there is about how to use one for those not familiar with the roaster. Stories have been told about the roughly 150,000 Chinese laborers who came to Cuba in the 1850's, and that they brought the cooking style to the island, hence the term "caja china." Research, however, indicates no known record of the roasting box dating this far back. In fact, there appears to have been relatively little co-mingling between the Chinese and Cuban cuisines. So where then did the box originate, and where did the name "la caja china" (the Chinese box) come from?
According to food anthropologist Sidney Mintz, a more likely scenario is that the term "china" or "chino" does not represent the country in this case, but is actually a common Hispanic term that describes something as exotic, mysterious, or clever. Using this interpretation, "la caja china" would translate as "the clever box" rather than "the Chinese box." This hypothesis is strengthened by renowned Cuban chef Maricel Presilla of the restaurant Zafra in New Jersey when she states, "Cubans like to call anything that is unusual or clever Chinese. And this is true all over the Caribbean. Pretty much any culture there, whether Cuban or Puerto Rican or Dominican, they have somewhere some kind of thing like this-a Caja China." (Sifton) Variations on the box can be found in various countries, and go by a variety of names. In Peru there is the "caja china criollo," in the Cuban community the "caja asadora" (roasting box) and "asador cubana" (Cuban roaster).
In Louisiana's Cajun community it is referred to as a "Cajun microwave." The reality is that all these roaster boxes are very similar in their style of cooking, using heat from charcoal and the pressure of an enclosed roasting box to cook large amounts of food in an incredibly short amount of time. Not only is the cooking time shortened from eight or more hours for a large pig to just four, but the meat comes out incredibly tender."
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5322617
I picked up the hog Thursday and realized that it was way too big for the La Caja China. So, I used my meat saw to cut off the head and the legs.
I put the hog on my counter top, in spite of my wife's objections, and injected it with some AJ, ACV, water, and salt. Then, I rubbed it down with salt and pepper and put it back in the cooler.
The next morning (Friday) I was up by 5am and by 6:15am the hog was in the La Caja China.
By 6:30 the fire was beginning to get to the stage it needed to be to cook the hog.
This is a pic of the cook at around 10am. Friday was not only the hottest day of the year it was also the hottest day of the century for my area. The heat index reached 131 degrees F. At 5:30am it was really hot. At 10am it was hotter and by 2pm it was oppressively hot.
I didn't get any pics of the cook after the pic above. It was just too hot to mess around and the person who was supposed to grill a bushel of corn had to back out. So, they brought the corn to me to cook. Thankfully, a co-worker hung around to help.
I cooked the hog for about 5 hours since it was so big and I figured that the extra mass needed a little more time than the recommendations on the La Caja China which were for a smaller hog.
This is a pic of some of the hog as we were pulling the meat.
Here is a pic of some of the left overs. Looks like everyone enjoyed themselves.
The meat was pretty tasty. It didn't have any smoke flavor, of course, but it was tender, juicy, and full of flavor. I learned a lot from the experience and will be making some changes if I ever have to cook a hog in the La Caja China again.
"Seemingly, there is as much mystery surrounding the origins of the "caja china" as there is about how to use one for those not familiar with the roaster. Stories have been told about the roughly 150,000 Chinese laborers who came to Cuba in the 1850's, and that they brought the cooking style to the island, hence the term "caja china." Research, however, indicates no known record of the roasting box dating this far back. In fact, there appears to have been relatively little co-mingling between the Chinese and Cuban cuisines. So where then did the box originate, and where did the name "la caja china" (the Chinese box) come from?
According to food anthropologist Sidney Mintz, a more likely scenario is that the term "china" or "chino" does not represent the country in this case, but is actually a common Hispanic term that describes something as exotic, mysterious, or clever. Using this interpretation, "la caja china" would translate as "the clever box" rather than "the Chinese box." This hypothesis is strengthened by renowned Cuban chef Maricel Presilla of the restaurant Zafra in New Jersey when she states, "Cubans like to call anything that is unusual or clever Chinese. And this is true all over the Caribbean. Pretty much any culture there, whether Cuban or Puerto Rican or Dominican, they have somewhere some kind of thing like this-a Caja China." (Sifton) Variations on the box can be found in various countries, and go by a variety of names. In Peru there is the "caja china criollo," in the Cuban community the "caja asadora" (roasting box) and "asador cubana" (Cuban roaster).
In Louisiana's Cajun community it is referred to as a "Cajun microwave." The reality is that all these roaster boxes are very similar in their style of cooking, using heat from charcoal and the pressure of an enclosed roasting box to cook large amounts of food in an incredibly short amount of time. Not only is the cooking time shortened from eight or more hours for a large pig to just four, but the meat comes out incredibly tender."
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5322617
I picked up the hog Thursday and realized that it was way too big for the La Caja China. So, I used my meat saw to cut off the head and the legs.
I put the hog on my counter top, in spite of my wife's objections, and injected it with some AJ, ACV, water, and salt. Then, I rubbed it down with salt and pepper and put it back in the cooler.
The next morning (Friday) I was up by 5am and by 6:15am the hog was in the La Caja China.
By 6:30 the fire was beginning to get to the stage it needed to be to cook the hog.
This is a pic of the cook at around 10am. Friday was not only the hottest day of the year it was also the hottest day of the century for my area. The heat index reached 131 degrees F. At 5:30am it was really hot. At 10am it was hotter and by 2pm it was oppressively hot.
I didn't get any pics of the cook after the pic above. It was just too hot to mess around and the person who was supposed to grill a bushel of corn had to back out. So, they brought the corn to me to cook. Thankfully, a co-worker hung around to help.
I cooked the hog for about 5 hours since it was so big and I figured that the extra mass needed a little more time than the recommendations on the La Caja China which were for a smaller hog.
This is a pic of some of the hog as we were pulling the meat.
Here is a pic of some of the left overs. Looks like everyone enjoyed themselves.
The meat was pretty tasty. It didn't have any smoke flavor, of course, but it was tender, juicy, and full of flavor. I learned a lot from the experience and will be making some changes if I ever have to cook a hog in the La Caja China again.
