Cubanos! ala Chef
We've all seen the movie, Chef. Yep, it's the holy grail of foodie movies. The one that makes all of us amateurs dream of telling our boss to shove it and running off to outfit a food truck. I know I've had that fantasy on a few occasions. But the reality of 18 hour days and cooking the same thing over and over and over for a fraction of what I make in the software game binds my feet back to reality.
But man, the Cubanos sandwiches that they produce on El Jefe's truck in Chef look so dang mouthwatering. Food porn really. But hey, it's a movie right? Nothing could be that good?
Actually they are that good. The food porn in Chef is all for reals, created by chef Roy Choi from LA who consulted on the movie. I tracked down the recipe for his Cubanos and more importantly and foundationally the mojo marinade that makes the pork shoulder stand up and be counted as pretty much the best thing I've ever had the luck to eat.
Both the pork shoulder and the Cubanos themselves are art realized, but let's start at the beginning.
Marinade and prep:
The day before my attempt at Cuban food art, I went to my favorite butcher shop and chose a nice 3 lbs pork shoulder. I trust Diablo Foods completely and it's where I get all my meat products from (with the exception of the pheasant I roasted for Christmas last year, but wild game is a whole other basket to dig into). Their meat is locally sourced, fresh and free of all that processing (read salt and chemicals) that you get forced on you at your big chain supermarkets (end of soapbox). Plus the butchers are friendly, knowledgeable like their jobs and will do custom stuff for you if you're not a jerk.
But a pork shoulder can be tough and it needs marinade and slow cooking. So step one was the Cuban mojo marinade: Cilantro, mint, orange juice and rind, my best olive oil, lime juice, fresh oregano, lots and lots of chopped garlic and some cracked black pepper, a couple of tea spoons of cumin and a random lemon or two all go in to a bowl, get whisked into a chemical reaction then poured en masse over the rolled and tied pork.
After 5 minutes or so of massaging the marinade into the shoulder, the whole thing goes into a large freezer bag and then into the fridge over night. The longer the better.
About 24-28 hours later the now drowning pork shoulder goes onto a rack* over a roasting pan with a light tent of tin foil then into the oven - at 300 degrees for about 2.5 hours. At that point remove the tent and cook it another half hour at 350 to brown it up good.
* retain the mojo sauce to reuse later if you're just flat out eating the pork shoulder as a main dish rather than making Cubanos (snag a few tbls of the dripping to add to the mojo, maybe some more lime and bring it to a simmer on in a sauce pan for about two minutes).
With luck on my side it came out looking like this and I rejoiced.
Holy Jeebbus. I carved off two tiny slivers for Patty and me and dang if it wasn't the most succulent, complex juicy and savory thing I've had the pleasure of biting into. It was just an absolute miracle.
After the brief taste and a bit of a resting period for the meat, I sliced it as thin as I could into razor thin slivers. Though don't despair if you over cook it. It will just get juicier and shreddable and you can tong it apart. Mine still had just enough structural integrity to slice and not tong, so again I lucked out (my oven is so old it voted for Nixon I think and it long ago lost enough seal to make enjoying any connection with reality temperature wise a faded memory from its youth. Roasting in it is an act of faith. I believe!
While at Diablo Foods I also had them thin slice some Virginia honey baked ham for me. I chose honey baked cause I like the sweetness it brings or rather would bring to my sandwiches.
I quickly grilled the pork and ham slices for a minute or so per side to give them a browning sheen and then removed them to a tray, wrapping them in tin foil to keep them warm and juicy.
Once you're solved your bread issues, slice it length-wise and into 5" to 6" slabs. Brush the inside cuts with butter and lightly brown over that same hot skillet you browned your pork and ham with.
Then it's time to construct. The bottom of the sandwich gets a layer of the pork shoulder topped by ham. Then some slices of Swiss cheese and super thin sliced dill pickles. The top bun gets some good old school American yellow mustard (leave the honey/garlic/rosemary/beer mustard you bought during your last trip to Wisconsin on the shelf). Brush melted butter on the top of the noble tower of sandwich and the bread press bottom griddle (you have a Cubanos sandwich press/grill right?). Or failing that, heat up a cast iron pan to just below smoking mode, brush some butter on it and gently place your sandwich on it. Cover it with parchment paper and then apply a jerry-rig press made from a heavy skillet, with cans of tomatoes or whatever in it to give it some extra weight.
A minute or so on side one, then ever so gently flip it, applying more butter on the skillet please. What you're looking to do is just brown that butter on bun top and bottom and melt the cheese and heat and spread the juice from the pickle. After another minute you can remove the sandwich and right away feast on the crisp bun, melted cheese, fragrant, juicy meat and spicy pickle. Man, this sandwich pretty much has everything going on in perfect harmony.
Complete success and happy dinner guests is what I got out of this. Muchas thanks to Alyse and Brian and Patty* for being such fine test subjects. Well, it wasn't really such a risk. We DID have a bottle of Cuban rum and a pineapple so there was no real way we could lose when you think about it.
* my go to lab experimentees
Holy Jeebbus. I carved off two tiny slivers for Patty and me and dang if it wasn't the most succulent, complex juicy and savory thing I've had the pleasure of biting into. It was just an absolute miracle.
After the brief taste and a bit of a resting period for the meat, I sliced it as thin as I could into razor thin slivers. Though don't despair if you over cook it. It will just get juicier and shreddable and you can tong it apart. Mine still had just enough structural integrity to slice and not tong, so again I lucked out (my oven is so old it voted for Nixon I think and it long ago lost enough seal to make enjoying any connection with reality temperature wise a faded memory from its youth. Roasting in it is an act of faith. I believe!
While at Diablo Foods I also had them thin slice some Virginia honey baked ham for me. I chose honey baked cause I like the sweetness it brings or rather would bring to my sandwiches.
I quickly grilled the pork and ham slices for a minute or so per side to give them a browning sheen and then removed them to a tray, wrapping them in tin foil to keep them warm and juicy.
The sandwich construction:
If you can find a Cuban bakery you're a lucky bastard and go ahead and get some fresh bread for Cubanos and stop looking so smug, will ya? But if you can't find this level of authenticity don't despair. Just get the best, freshest bread you can find at your local bakery. Acme in Berkeley was my go to for this test, but going forward, I am going to bake my own -- it's just a white loaf made with real lard and nothing super special or hard to make.Once you're solved your bread issues, slice it length-wise and into 5" to 6" slabs. Brush the inside cuts with butter and lightly brown over that same hot skillet you browned your pork and ham with.
Then it's time to construct. The bottom of the sandwich gets a layer of the pork shoulder topped by ham. Then some slices of Swiss cheese and super thin sliced dill pickles. The top bun gets some good old school American yellow mustard (leave the honey/garlic/rosemary/beer mustard you bought during your last trip to Wisconsin on the shelf). Brush melted butter on the top of the noble tower of sandwich and the bread press bottom griddle (you have a Cubanos sandwich press/grill right?). Or failing that, heat up a cast iron pan to just below smoking mode, brush some butter on it and gently place your sandwich on it. Cover it with parchment paper and then apply a jerry-rig press made from a heavy skillet, with cans of tomatoes or whatever in it to give it some extra weight.
A minute or so on side one, then ever so gently flip it, applying more butter on the skillet please. What you're looking to do is just brown that butter on bun top and bottom and melt the cheese and heat and spread the juice from the pickle. After another minute you can remove the sandwich and right away feast on the crisp bun, melted cheese, fragrant, juicy meat and spicy pickle. Man, this sandwich pretty much has everything going on in perfect harmony.
Complete success and happy dinner guests is what I got out of this. Muchas thanks to Alyse and Brian and Patty* for being such fine test subjects. Well, it wasn't really such a risk. We DID have a bottle of Cuban rum and a pineapple so there was no real way we could lose when you think about it.
* my go to lab experimentees
Please try this or, if you are not a sandwich fan, just marinade and roast the pork. It WILL be the best gift you ever give to yourself.
Mojo sauce for those of you who measure:
Mojo sauce for those of you who measure:
- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup lightly packed cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
- 3/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup lightly packed mint leaves, finely chopped
- 8 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced oregano (that's fresh, baby. Don't disappoint me with dried stuff out of a bottle, okay?)
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
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