Stuffed Pork Shoulder "a lo caja china"

Recipe courtesy Roberto Guerra

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Picture of Stuffed Pork Shoulder "a lo caja china" Recipe Photo: Stuffed Pork Shoulder "a lo caja china" Recipe
Rated 5 stars out of 5
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Total Time:
14 hr 45 min
Prep
15 min
Inactive
12 hr 30 min
Cook
2 hr 0 min
Yield:
8 to 10 servings
Level:
Easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 (8-pound) pork shoulder, bone-in
  • 2 sour oranges, juiced
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 6 bay leaves
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons pepper
  • 1/2 pound ham, thinly sliced
  • 8 slices bacon
  • 1 cup prunes
  • 1 cup guava shells
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 1 bottle Malta, divided
  • Fried Green Plantains, recipe follows
  • White Rice, recipe follows
  • Black Beans, recipe follows

Directions

Remove bone and flatten meat so that it may be rolled. If the pork shoulder is very fatty, a small amount may be removed. Score fat well and marinate for a minimum of 12 hours in the sour orange juice, garlic, bay leaves, salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Line meat with ham slices, bacon slices, prunes and guava shells. Roll meat carefully to keep the filling inside the roll. Tie firmly with a butcher twine. Cover with brown sugar and 1/2 bottle of Malta and cook for 1 hour in the preheated oven. At this point, turn the meat, cover with the remaining Malta and cook for an extra hour, or until the pork reaches a temperature of 180 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Allow to cool and cut into fine slices. Pour the drippings over the meat after slicing the meat. Serve with the Fried Green Plantains, White Rice, and Black Beans.

Fried Green Plantains (Tostones De Platano Verde):

  • Oil, for frying
  • 4 ripe plantains, peeled
  • Salt
  • 1 recipe Garlic Mojo, recipe follows

Preheat oil in a fryer or Dutch oven to 365 degrees F.

Peel the plantains and cut into 1-inch pieces. Place into preheated oil and fry for 5 minutes or until they begin to brown. Drain them on a paper-towel lines plate. Flatten them using a Tostonera or the bottom of a metal can and fry again at 385 degrees F for approximately 3 minutes. Drain again and sprinkle with salt and garlic mojo. For softer fried plantains, soak for a few minutes in salted water after the first fry, drain and fry again.

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes

Garlic Mojo:

  • 8 garlic cloves
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup sour orange juice or 1/4 cup sweet orange juice plus 1/8 cup fresh lime or lemon juice

Chop up the garlic very thinly or crush using a mortar and pestle or food processor with the salt to form a thick paste. In a mixing bowl, combine the garlic paste and juice, and let the mixture sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or longer.

White Rice (Arroz Blanco):

  • 9 tablespoons oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 9 cups water
  • 3 tablespoons salt
  • 3 pounds rice, washed

Heat oil in a shallow casserole and brown garlic. Take it off the heat and remove garlic from the oil. Add water and salt to the oil and bring to a rolling boil. Add the washed rice and stir. Bring to a rolling boil again, cover and cook over low heat for approximately 30 minutes.

Yield: 20 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Black Beans (Frijoles Negros):

  • 2 pounds black beans
  • 20 cups water
  • 1 cup plus 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 8 garlic cloves, mashed or chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 8 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper, optional
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 cup dry red wine
  • 4 tablespoons vinegar

Wash the beans and soak overnight in the water. When the beans swell, cook in the same water until soft, about 45 minutes. Heat 1 cup oil in a frying pan, add onions, garlic and green peppers. Add 1 cup of the beans to the pan and mash. Add this to the beans together with the salt, pepper, if using, oregano, bay leaves and sugar. Allow to boil for a 1 hour then add the wine and vinegar allowing to cook uncovered for a while. Add the 4 remaining tablespoons olive oil just before serving.

Yield: about 20 servings

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Inactive Prep Time: 12 hours

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Newest Ratings and Reviews

Read all 13 reviews

  • on December 08, 2012

    Flag

    This was by far the best tasting pork dish I have ever eaten! Even my picky 3 year old loved it, especially the sauce. Make sure you put the prunes in because they really add to the flavor, even if you don't like prunes (like my husband. It was a little difficult finding the Malta beverage but I tracked it down at a Kroger signature market. It's in the Latin foods aisle and is sold by the six pack. I also couldn't find sour oranges so I used a couple of regular oranges and a lime. Make sure you pour the marinade out when it comes time to cook it because it's a little salty. I hope these tips help and you enjoy this amazingly tasy dish!

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  • on December 20, 2010

    Flag

    This recipe is nothing short of awesome. The flavors are really out of this world, if you follow the instructions and take some of the user suggestions. Me, I marinated for a full day, then set the oven at 275 degrees at midnight, popped the pork in and let it cook overnight until about 12 noon the next day, checking from time to time on how it progressed. Then I popped the oven up to 350 until the pork reached the required heat for at least 30 minutes.
    You can turn on the broiler setting in your oven to get the crisp skin, or you can do what I did and take it outside, into the barbecue, and let the charcoal finish off the crisping. Keep an extra bottle of Malta around if you're going to pop it in the barbecue, and add as needed to get that extra sweet but crispy taste.

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  • on September 04, 2010

    Flag

    For those who are confused about the bone in part. You should know by now that bone = flavor. So, remove the bone but keep it when you are stuffingar the shoulder insert the bone, roll the meat, secure with twine and bake it. After meat is done remove the bone you know it is easy to do so because it is not attached to the meat! I wish people use common sence before writing their reviews. Also, to those that say meat was tasteless, use your own taste pallet, I added more garlic because that is what I like, I added more sour organces, sofrito, serrano chillies. FROM EXPERIENCE I KNOW TO COOK THE PORK SHOULDER FOR LONGER THAN 2 HOURS IN FACT, I COOKED IT AT 300 DEGREES FOR ALMOST 6 HOURS, MARINATE FOR 24HRS. IT WAS ABSOLUTLEY FANTASTIC. I HAVE NEVER TRIED THE MALTA SUGAR MIXTURE SO THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME AND BOY IT WAS GREAT. AWESOME RECIPE!

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