Lagoon Pig Roast Cuban Style

Each year we have an end of summer party for our lagoon. In year's past we have had seafood feast, hot dog party, crawl fish boil, always something a bit different. This year we decided to have a pig roast.  One of our neighbors has cooked a pig many times before and not only hosted the party but shared with us their traditional way to roast a pig.

The night before the party we made the Mojo which is a Cuban marinade for the pig.  

INGREDIENTS:

4 or 5 large garlic – approximately 70 – 80 cloves
salt
black peppercorns

Oregano
Sour orange juice (If you can't get sour orange juice in your area, use two parts orange to one part lemon and one part lime)

Oranges, quartered

Limes, quartered

We took 10 cloves of garlic, added  ½ teaspoon spoon salt, six black peppercorns, and some oregano. We mashed them all together into a paste. This was placed into a separate bowl. We continued this process until all of the garlic (all five heads) is mashed.

Once everything was mashed  we blended the mash with the sour orange juice and let sit at room temperature for about 45 minutes.

 Next we poured the marinade all over the pig and rubbing it into the cavity & skin.

Using a meat injector some was injected into the pig.The oranges & limes were placed into the center. The pig was wrapped in plastic and refrigerated overnight.

                  The next morning the pig was put into the La Caja China box for cooking.

La Caja China" loosely translated from Spanish means "Chinese box." The Chinese box was actually invented in Miami, not China, by a father and son named Guerra. They designed the Box after hearing about a Vietnamese style of roasting pork.

A pan is placed on top of the pig to cover it and charcoal place into the pan. It takes about 10 pounds.

After three hours of roasting, we removed the lid and charcoal containers from the Caja China box and turned the pig. 

Once it was turned we cooked it for about another hour. 

 

 

The pig was cooked to perfection and delicious. 

The whole process is a social event and lots of fun. 

Not much left to pick on.