Stuffed Pork Shoulder "a lo caja china"

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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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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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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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Firstly, this recipe does take way more time then stated. Give yourself at least 3 to 4 hours to reach the required temp. Secondly, I also added cumin and oregano because when I saw the show...that is what Roberto added even though it is not a listed ingredient in the recipe. Thirdly, I cooked it fat side up for the first hour, then I put it fat side down for the second hour and added more of the brown sugar/malta mix and then removed the foil, turned it fat side up for the remaining time so it became crispy! This pork looked and tasted so delicious that EVERYONE proposed marriage to me. By the time it was done, I looked like a world class chef for something that really looks and taste harder than it really is. EXCELLENT recipe. I alos added chopped onions to the marinade and seasoned the meat with lawrys seasoning. The salty and sweet made my mouth so so happy!!

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I am unfamiliar with Cuban food but this recipe makes me want to visit Miami! First, even grocery stores in my somewhat small Alabama town have the Mojo marinade and the Adobo seasoning, just look in the Mexican food section. This makes the recipe very easy. Also, if you want you can order both from the la Caja China website. If you can't find canned guava I think it tastes similar to peaches in heavy syrup. DO NOT LEAVE OUT THE PRUNES...they add a lot. I have made individual roasts out of shoulder steak when I could not find a shoulder roast. On the grill this is one incredible dish.

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First off, if you don't want to hunt down all the ingredients, you can easily find ready made mojo in bottles in your local supermarket. That will save you time in preparing the marinade. If you want some more flavor I recommend adding cumin and oregano to your homemade mojo recipe as well. Mojo is supposed to have it anyway. You could also inject your meat to ensure the marinate penetrates all through the meat.

Secondly, the longer you marinade the meat, the meat will be more flavorful and it will be very tender. I like to marinade at least 24 hrs to ensure I get very tender meat.

You could also accomplish this with different cuts of pork as well. I successfully made it with a pork loin; you just have to be careful not to overcook. I personally like the pork shoulder best because of the fat content. Fat equals flavor! Removing the bone gives you the space for the stuffing too.

I also have substituted the malta for dark beer and it still came out delicious. Malta is just like beer, just sweetened.

Lastly, be sure to cook the pork covered in foil. For the last half hour to fourty five minutes you can cook uncovered to get the crispy skin(yummy!.

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I too went on a hunt for the ingredients, thinking with all these flavors, wow this is going to be incredible. What a huge disappointment. In spite of copious amounts of garlic, bacon, orange, quava, malt, tons of salt and pepper... this was absolutely tasteless. Beyond boring. And two hours? Not even close. Oh well...

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The beans and the rice were amazing. I used the wrong cut of pork, it still turned out yummy, but nothing like what it was supposed to according to the show that I saw with Bobby Flay. Just means I get to try again!

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This was the 1st cuban dish I've prepared, so finding all the ingredients felt like a scavenger hunt, but, worth it. Cannot wait to make this again as everyone LOVED the flavor! Never found the sour oranges so had to make my own (OJ/Lime Juice. Finally found the Malta & Guava shells on the International Aisle of a nicer Publix. For the pork, not sure why they specify "bone-in", then the 1st step is to cut it out. Save yourself some time and buy the boneless. Also, it definitely took a solid 4 hours to reach the temperature that I cook pork (which is much lower than the 180 degrees recommended. The Rice was very good, but, I'd half the amount of rice next time. I could have fed 10 more people with the 3# it called for and ended up throwing alot out.

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I knew I had to have this recipe. This man is a culinary genius. I can't even put into words how succulent this pork is. Don't be turned off by the prunes because they are classic with pork and add a nice sweetness. When Mr.Guerra writes a cookbook, I'll be the first to buy it.