Marinate a bone-in pork shoulder 24 hours in mojo: sour orange juice, crushed garlic, oregano and cumin. Smoke at 135°C (275°F) for around 8 hours to 95°C (203°F), basting with reserved mojo every hour after the third. Rest an hour, then shred.
Snake or Minion at 135°C (275°F). Oak or a fruit wood, used lightly. This is not a heavy smoke dish.
Method
Make the mojo
Crush the garlic with the salt into a paste, then whisk in the sour orange juice, oregano, cumin, pepper and oil. If you cannot get sour oranges, two parts orange juice to one part lime is the standard substitute and it is close.
Score and marinate 24 hours
Score the fat cap in a diamond pattern and stab the meat deeply all over with a knife so the marinade gets inside. Reserve a third of the mojo in the fridge for basting, then submerge the shoulder in the rest with the sliced onion for 24 hours.
Smoke at 135°C (275°F)
Build a snake or Minion fire at 135°C (275°F) with a couple of chunks of oak. Pork on, fat cap up. Cuban lechon is not a heavy smoke dish, so go light on the wood; the citrus and garlic are the flavour.
Baste from hour three
Once the surface has set, brush with the reserved mojo every hour. Do not baste earlier or you will wash off the crust before it forms.
Cook to 95°C (203°F)
Roughly eight hours for a 4kg shoulder. You want the blade bone to twist free and a probe to slide in with no resistance. Wrap in foil if it stalls badly, though the citrus crust is better unwrapped if you have the time.
Rest, shred, dress again
Rest an hour, then shred, discarding hard fat. Dress the pulled meat with a little fresh mojo and the softened onions. Serve with black beans, rice and fried plantain.
Notes worth knowing
- Sour orange (naranja agria) is sold in Latin and Caribbean shops and is worth seeking out; the flavour is distinct from the orange and lime substitute.
- This is a garlic dish. A whole head is correct and it is not a typographical error.
- The leftovers make a Cuban sandwich, which is arguably the real reason to cook a whole shoulder.
Common questions
What is mojo?
A Cuban marinade and sauce built on sour orange juice, crushed garlic, oregano and oil. It is used both as a marinade before cooking and as a dressing afterwards, and the two uses want separate batches for food safety.
Can I cook a whole pig this way?
That is the traditional version, done in a caja china roasting box. Shoulder is the practical domestic equivalent and uses exactly the same marinade and method.
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