Naranja Criollo Mojo Pork

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A short time ago I bought a lot of pork picnics and shoulders at a great price, and froze what I wasn't going to use right away for another day.

On my to do list were a few different styles of Pork with a Central American taste profile. My daughter just returned home for a one month visit after living in Hawaii for a year, and wanted some Mojo Pork.

Started out a sunny morning, but then the sun was playing hide and seek the rest of the day. Periods of warm sun followed by heavy overcast repeating several times, even a few raindrops here and there throughout the day.

I purchased a Naranja Agria and Mojo Criollo Pork (Sour Orange) prepared marinades (I've made my own in the past, but these are really good for a commercial based product).




You'll need a non-reactive pan or baking dish to start. Don't use aluminum disposable pans due to the high amount of acid in the marinade. The use of the aluminum pan will give an "off" flavor to the dish due to the acid content and the reaction of the aluminum with the acid. The food can take on a metallic flavor and can become discolored, especially since the marinade time and cooking time in the pan is quite long.

I used a stainless steel half size steam table pan because everything fits perfectly. They are also commonly available, relatively inexpensive, virtually indestructible, and they can be used time and time again. If the pan gets discolored from use on the grill or in your smoker, a quick spray of "easy off" oven cleaner and then let it sit for an hour before rinsing, will return the pan to looking like a new pan again.

Start by buying a pork butt, removing the bone and the large deposits of fat, then cut it lengthwise with the grain into 2" X 2" X strips, which is usually about 5" long. It is important to cut with the grain to maximize the ability of the meat to come apart with a fork when cooked to perfect tenderness.

Thinly slice an onion and evenly place in the bottom of the non-reactive pan/dish. Then thinly slice 2 or 3 large cloves of garlic and scatter the slices evenly along the bottom of the pan as well. After the slices of the aromatics are evenly spaced in the bottom of the pan, place your chunks of pork into the pan to maximize space, then cover the meat with the marinade and let sit in the refrigerator overnight for 8 to 12 hours. After sitting overnight remove from the refrigerator turn the chunks of meat over in the same marinade and return to the refrigerator for another 4 hours.

I started the process by putting the pork into the sour orange marinade, thinly sliced onion, added some fresh garlic, and refrigerated overnight.




I took the pork out of the marinade and lightly seasoned with Adobo Bitter Orange all purpose seasoning. Then I seared the pork, browning the pieces of pork on all sides of meat on the Weber Kettle, using a couple chunks of orange wood for smoke flavor.




I returned the pieces of pork back into the liquid to finish the cooking process by braising the pork in the marinade until fork tender.




I have to say the end result was fantastic, very tender and moist pork with an exceptionally good flavor.





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lankster35 said:

I was wondering why not cut across the grain or is the idea to have long chunk strands like with pulled pork?

Across seems like it would fall apart easier but probably be more like chopped pork. (?)

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The long flaky strands of meat are so moist and tender, they just melt in your mouth. I've never tried it in chunks across the grain, but I think it might be mushy that way. I'll have to try a small amount cut that way next time and see what happens.

Also makes great pork tacos if one desires. I make tacos with any leftovers the next day.

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Nuco59 said:

Help me. The few times I've done it, I've not reused the same marinade that the meat sat in all night. I thought that was a no no. I have seen a few recipes that called for boiling or heating the used marinade until it was "safe". I always erred on the side of caution and dumped it. I made enough extra that I did not have cook with the used marinade.

Is there some rule of thumb? If are cooking IN it , it's ok to reuse? But if you are only Basting with it, it's not ok to reuse?

thanks.

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You are correct, however I didn't reuse the marinade, I simply completed the cooking process.

With the regular recipe you cook the pork in the same marinade that it sat in overnight, not reuse. I deviated from that recipe and took the pork out for a few minutes only to brown it for the maillard reaction and then returned it back to the marinade to complete cook on the kettle over high heat for hours.

The reason to not reuse a marinade is to prevent contamination of food sources or cross contaminate to other food sources. Once you place the meat in the marinade, you would not want to reuse it to marinade other meats or to baste with it.

However when cooking the meat in the same marinade it sat in, you are destroying any bacteria with the high cooking temperatures. As you cook, the liquid evaporates, thus concentrating the flavors of the marinade and the meat drippings, making a flavorful sauce/glaze on the meat. Cooking in the marinade is part of the actual recipe.

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EDIT:

I would like to add that if this were beef, I would have used fresh marinade as I would be cooking it medium-rare or medium and would not want to take the chance of using the same marinade as you mentioned.

Also never do anything that you makes you feel like you are taking chances or that you think are unsafe. As you stated, "One should error on the side of caution"

One should understand the principal of pasteurization and should know when they are safely cooking with high temperatures in recipes like this.
See http://www.foodhandler.com/cooking-pasteurizing-safer-foods/
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