Perinl is a Puerto Rican slow-roasted marinated pork shoulder. It’s traditionally served at Christmas paired with arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas). The shoulder is roasted whole with sofrito, salt, peppers, and sometimes other spices. After being marinated the meat is roasted in the over for several hours with a higher temperature in the final stage to crisp the skin. Let over meat from Pernil can sometimes be used as the meat in Cuban sandwich.
INGREDIENTS
8lbs picnic pork shoulder
12 minced garlic cloves
1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried oregano
1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons white vinegar
8 teaspoons salt (or 1 teaspoon of salt per pound of meat if you are using a smaller cut of meat)
DIRECTIONS
1. Wash the pork shoulder.
2. With a sharp knife, make 1 inch deep cuts into the pork.
3. With mortar and pestle crush garlic, oregano and black pepper together. Add olive oil, vinegar and salt. Mix well.
4. Spoon some of the garlic mixture inside the small cuts around the pork, and spread remaining mixture all over the pork.
5. Place pork in an aluminum turkey pan (skin side up); cover with aluminum foil tightly. Refrigerate at least 8 hours. (I have marinated this for as long as two days.).
6. Bake in pre-heated 325 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 5 to 6 hours.
7. Remove aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for another hour or until skin is crisp. Closely watch this so you don’t burn the skin (chicharrone).
8. Pork should be well-done and tender.
