Scaled-Down Weeknight Pernil
Pernil en Olla de Presión·(pehr-NEEL en OH-yah deh preh-SYOHN)
Comida (Grandma's Mains for Busy Tuesdays)
It is a fundamental truth of Cuban cooking that pernil—the majestic, garlic-studded roast pork of Nochebuena—demands respect and an entire day of slow, low heat. But on a Tuesday night, the diaspora turns to a brilliant, historically entrenched equalizer: the pressure cooker. By aggressively mashing a fiercely authentic mojo criollo of fresh citrus and garlic, searing the meat for a deep crust, and letting superheated steam do the heavy lifting, the home cook achieves fall-apart, soul-satisfying perfection in an hour. The skin is pulled away to blister under the broiler, ensuring you never miss out on the sacred, crackling cuerito.
Ingredients
- sweet orange juice1/2 cup
- lime juice1/4 cup
- garlic10 large cloves
- dried oregano1 tbsp
- ground cumin1 1/2 tsp
- kosher salt1 1/2 tbsp
- coarse black pepper1 tsp
- olive oil2 tbsp
- boneless pork shoulder3 lb
- yellow onion1 med
- chicken broth1/2 cup
- coarse salt1 tbsp
Method
- 01
Mash the mojo aromatics into a paste.
Place the garlic, kosher salt, cumin, oregano, and black pepper into a mortar and pestle, aggressively mashing them until they form a thick, pungent paste, then stir in the olive oil and fresh citrus juices.
- 02
Marinate the pork chunks.
Toss the meat in the mojo until every crevice is coated, letting it sit at room temperature for the 15 minutes it takes to prep the rest of the meal, or leave it in the fridge all day while you are at work.
- 03
Sear the pork to build a foundational flavor.
Set an electric pressure cooker to the sauté function, remove the pork from the marinade while reserving the liquid, and deeply brown the chunks in batches until a dark crust forms on all sides.
- 04
Pressure cook the meat.
Turn off the sauté function, lay the sliced onion at the bottom of the pot, return the meat, and pour over the reserved marinade and chicken broth before sealing and cooking on manual high pressure for 45 minutes.
- 05
Broil the cuerito while the meat cooks.
If your pork came with skin, pat it entirely dry, rub it generously with coarse salt, and blast it under a low oven broiler on a foil-lined tray for 15 to 20 minutes until glassy and shattering.
- 06
Shred the meat and dress it with the pan juices.
Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, manually vent the rest, then shred the impossibly tender pork with two forks, making sure to toss it heavily with the reduced, citrusy onion juices left in the pot.
Notes
Sourcing the citrus.
True Cuban mojo relies on naranja agria, or sour orange. Bottled versions taste artificial and dead. The canonical weeknight supermarket substitute is a mix of fresh sweet orange and lime juice, which perfectly mimics the bright, acidic bite of the homeland.
Respect the cuerito.
Never put acidic mojo marinade on the pork skin. The 100 percent humidity of a pressure cooker will turn it to rubber. Keep it entirely separate, dry it meticulously, and use coarse salt to draw out the moisture before applying direct, dry broiler heat.
From Cook Cuban in America.