Recipe: Delicious Puerto Rican Roast Pork Shoulder

Puerto Rican Roast Pork Shoulder. This Puerto Rican pork shoulder recipe is an amazing party dish. My pernil journey began as I was wrestling a huge shoulder of pork out of its packaging, about to start some rendition of slow roasted pork. Guillermo, a super nice guy who helps me out with kitchen prep when I need some powerhouse.

This garlic roasted pork shoulder is a tradition in Puerto Rico for Christmas. It is crazy good :) If you plan on making it, it must be prepared a day ahead. Pork shoulder is marinated with plenty of garlic, olive oil, and vinegar and roasted until tender in this Puerto Rican-style pernil recipe. You can have Puerto Rican Roast Pork Shoulder using 3 ingredients and 6 steps. Here is how you cook that.

Ingredients of Puerto Rican Roast Pork Shoulder

1. Prepare 10 lb of Pork picnic shoulder.
2. Prepare 1 of Garlic.
3. It's 1 of as needed Goya adobo seasoning.

Pernil is roasted pork shoulder, seasoned to the max. It is served with rice and beans, salad, or sweet plantains. There is nothing more quintessentially Puerto Rican than a deliciously tender, slow roasted pork shoulder, known as pernil. Pernil is the centerpiece of most of our holiday meals, and any other big celebration that calls for feeding a big crowd.

Puerto Rican Roast Pork Shoulder instructions

1. Wash and pat dry pork shoulder.
2. On the meat side of the pork cut 4-5 deep slits in various places. ( be careful not to pierce the skin side).
3. Fill in the slits with a teaspoon size of minced garlic and 1 tablespoon of adobo.
4. Turn shoulder over and season skin side with pinch of minced garlic and adobo. Massage well.
5. Place in a 13x9 roasting pan. Cover with aluminum foil and let sit in the fridge a least 4 hours before cooking time. ( it is best to let the pork sit overnight).
6. when ready to cook, heat oven to 350. Place pork uncovered in oven and roast for 4-4 1/2 hours until done..

Puerto Rican Pernil is typically made from a picnic cut pork shoulder, but I used a Boston butt (which is still the shoulder) since that's what was available. Just make sure to get a shoulder with the fat cap still on it - it keeps the meat tender and flavorful. Plus, the crispy "cuero" skin is the best part! To make pernil, a Puerto Rican favorite of a pork covered in a garlicky marinade and then roasted, I had to throw out my barbecue instincts, which First instinct to be broken is the cut of the shoulder. For pulled pork, I like to use the butt, which the top half at the elbow joint.