Pernil Recipe (Puerto Rican Roast Pork)

315 mins
Serves 8
https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/pernil/

Directions

  1. 1Combine the sofrito, oregano, garlic powder, coriander, onion powder, cumin, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
  2. 2Stir in the olive oil and mix well. Set aside for now.
  3. 3Cut various slits into the pork and stuff the garlic slices into them.
  4. 4Rub down the pork shoulder with the prepared marinade.
  5. 5Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour; overnight or up to 2 days is better for more flavor.
  6. 6Heat oven to 300 degrees F.
  7. 7Transfer the pork shoulder to the bottom of a roasting pan or large baking dish, skin side up.
  8. 8Wipe the skin clean of any marinade and excess moisture to help with crispy skin.
  9. 9Pour 1 cup water and 1 cup sour orange juice into the bottom of the roasting pan.
  10. 10Cover the pan with foil, leaving no gaps.
  11. 11Bake the pork shoulder for 3 hours.
  12. 12Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
  13. 13Rotate the roasting pan around for even cooking and remove the foil.
  14. 14Pat the skin dry with a paper towel.
  15. 15Add 1-2 cups additional water/sour orange if the bottom is too dry.
  16. 16Bake for 1-2 hours or longer, until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 210 degrees F when measured with a meat thermometer, or when a skewer can pierce the meat easily.
  17. 17If cooking with skin-on, if the skin is not crispy, turn up the oven temperature to 500 degrees F and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the skin is browned and crispy.
  18. 18Remove from heat and rest for 20 minutes.
  19. 19Carve and serve the pork.
  20. 20For serving, drain the drippings from the roasting pan into a bowl and skim the fat.
  21. 21Stir in vinegar and chopped cilantro.
  22. 22Add salt to taste.
  23. 23Serve the sauce with the finished pork as a dipping sauce or gravy.

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons sofrito
  • 2 tablespoons dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • to taste Salt and pepper
  • 0.5 cup olive oil
  • 4 pound pork shoulder bone-in, skin on – Or you can use boneless – see recipe notes
  • 8 cloves garlic sliced
  • 1 cup sour orange juice (or use an equal mix of orange juice and lime juice)
  • 1 cup water (or more as needed)
  • 2 tablespoons vinegar
  • 0.5 cup cilantro chopped

Equipment

large bowlroasting panlarge baking dishfoilpaper towelmeat thermometercutting board

Tips

  • To get the best crispy skin (cuero), use skin-on pork and dry the skin thoroughly before roasting. Raise the temperature at the end of roasting, uncovered, to ensure a crunchy outer crust. Mix the crispy skin into the served pork.
  • Pernil can be made with boneless pork, following the same steps but without the extra roasting time for skin crisping.
  • For seasoning options, you can use 5-6 tablespoons of Adobo seasoning or Sazon seasoning in place of the individual spices.