Arroz con gandules receta puerto rico: Puerto Rican Sofrito (Recaito) – Delish D’Lites
Puerto Rican Sofrito (Recaito) – Delish D’Lites
A Puerto Rican without sofrito is like a day without sunshine. Ok, maybe I’m being a bit melodramatic, but there’s no denying the moment of panic that strikes me whenever my sofrito stash is running low. Luckily, Puerto Rican sofrito is SO EASY to make, that 10 minutes of your time will yield you weeks, if not months, of flavor. Akin to the mirepoix of French cookery, sofrito is the basis for many dishes in various Caribbean cultures, including stews, soups, rice and bean dishes. Essentially, we use it for anything that’s cooked in some sort of liquid. There’s some debate about what is and isn’t part of sofrito, and that answer will change depending on what country you’re referring to. In Puerto Rico, we call it “recaito”. The pungent herb recao (AKA culantro) and ajíes dulces (sweet chili peppers) are the contributing flavor profiles to recaito. These ingredients can usually be found in Asian or Latin supermarkets.
If you can’t find these 2 ingredients, substitute with cilantro and cubanelle peppers, respectively.
Dominican sofrito, called sazón in that country, uses vinegar for a flavor punch and annatto for color. Cuban sofrito employs tomatoes and red bell peppers to sweeten it up and add color, as well as diced ham. So just to be clear, we’re making recaito!
Ingredients
Makes 1 quart
1 green bell pepper
1/2 lb ajíes dulces, stemmed and deseeded
1 bunch recao (culantro)
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
10 large garlic cloves, peeled
Directions
Wash and prepare all the ingredients for the food processor (or blender). For the peppers, this means de-stemming and de-seeding them. Chop the onion into chunks, and peel the garlic cloves.
Add everything into the food processor (or blender). If using a blender, you may have to add water to get the veggies to blend. You can strain the liquid after blending so that the sofrito doesn’t end up with too much liquid.
Blend until everything is finely pureed.
Use a funnel to pour the mixture into a storage container. If storing long term, pour the sofrito into ice cube trays and freeze the sofrito. Then just pull out a cube whenever you need it for a recipe.
Use a few tablespoons in your next rice, beans, stew or soup recipe!
Recipes that use Puerto Rican sofrito:
- Carne Guisada (Puerto Rican Beef Stew)
- Frijoles Negros (Cuban Black Beans)
- Arroz Con Pollo (Puerto Rican Chicken & Rice)
- Guilt Free Puerto Rican Corned Beef (Carne Bif)
- Arroz Con Gandules (Puerto Rican Rice with Pigeon Peas)
- Habichuelas Guisadas (Puerto Rican Stewed Beans)
- Pollo Guisado (Puerto Rican Chicken Stew)
5 from 8 votes
Puerto Rican Sofrito
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings 1 quart
- 1
green bell pepper
chopped - 1/2
lb
ajies dulces
seeded - 1
large onion
peeled and chopped - 10
garlic cloves
peeled - 1
bunch recao
culantro
Wash and chopped all the ingredients into large chunks.
Puree everything in a food processor or blender. (Use water for the blender if needed).
Store in a glass jar in the fridge for up to 10 days, or freeze in an ice cube tray or small cups.
Slow Cooker Pernil (Puerto Rican Roasted Pork Shoulder)
This slow cooker pernil is tender, moist, juicy, aromatic, and shreds like pulled pork with no effort, just a slow cooker!
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. This large, bone-in roast is slathered in a pungent blend of garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and olive oil, and is usually baked low and slow in the oven, with the slab of fatty pig skin sitting on top, so it slowly bastes the meat and gets crunchy.
In order to make this a weeknight friendly and stress free dish, I decided to buck tradition and make it in the slow cooker. My family was skeptical at first, but it turns out that a slow cooker is the key to a guaranteed tender and moist roast. You can’t achieve the crunchy skin thing, but really no one minds, I think we’re doing ourselves a favor by sparing our arteries anyway.
Pernil that’s roasted in the oven can become dry and tough without proper attention, but the moist environment of the slow cooker makes that virtually impossible. This pernil is tender, moist, juicy, aromatic, and shreds like pulled pork with no effort, just a slow cooker! A delish dish that’s foolproof and weeknight friendly? WOO! Let’s do this.
You’ll need a 6 quart Crockpot for this recipe.
What Cut Of Meat Is Pernil?
Pernil is typically made with a bone-in, skin-on pork shoulder or Boston butt roast. Take a boning knife and remove the pig skin from the roast (or have your butcher remove the skin for you).
I totally forgot to take a picture of the roast before I removed the skin, but it’s pretty straight forward. I’ve asl
Once it’s removed, poke your roast with the knife so it’s got a bunch of slits for your garlic paste to seep into. You can also remove the bone at this time if you wish, it will allow for faster cooking. I usually leave the bone in, it’ll slip right out when it’s done.
How To Make Pernil Marinade
Get your paste ingredients together. I use a mortar and pestle to break up the garlic, but you can use a food processor, or simply finely chop the garlic and mash it with the back of your knife with some salt until it create a paste. Mash up the garlic cloves until you have a chunky paste, then transfer into a small bowl. Sprinkle in the salt. Yes, it looks like a lot, but it’s a big roast, you’ll need it!
Add in the ground black pepper. This will give a nice depth of flavor to the pork, but won’t make it spicy. Finally, add in the dried oregano.
This will give it the roast an herbaceous flavor that is a must! Next, in order to make a paste that you can spread onto the pork, add 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Mix up the paste, it should look like this! If it’s too dry, add a bit more oil. Now to the fun part…
How To Marinate Puerto Rican Pernil
Take the garlic, salt, pepper and oregano marinade that you just made slather it all over the pernil, making sure to tuck some into those slits you created earlier. Massage that meat! Once you’ve got the first side completely coated, turn the roast over and slather with the remaining marinade. Don’t forget the sides!
Now that your roast is robed in this luxurious coat of deliciousness, it’s time to let it marinate. An 8 hour marinade is ideal, but even an hour will do the trick if you’re in a rush. To make this during the week, prep the roast the night before. Set the fat side down inside your crockpot’s ceramic insert, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until you’re ready to cook.
How To Cook Pernil In The Slow Cooker
Set the ceramic insert into your slow cooker, and place the marinated pork shoulder inside, fat side down. Set it to cook on low for 9-10 hours or high for 6-7 hours, or until the meat falls apart. You don’t need to add any liquid, because the pernil will create its own juices as it cooks. When you pull the pernil out of the slow cooker, it’ll look something like this. A big, beautiful mess of tender meat, just waiting to be shredded.
How To Serve Puerto Rican Pernil
Remove the large shoulder bone and any cartilage and/or fatty bits. Shred the meat with two forks and drizzle it with some of the liquid from the slow cooker. This will absolutely be the best pernil you’ve ever had. And leftovers are great for freezing (if they last that long), or for tacos and my amazing Cuban sandwich empanadas.
More Puerto Rican Recipe Essentials
- Arroz Con Gandules (Puerto Rican Rice with Pigeon Peas)
- Puerto Rican Pasteles De Yuca
- Coquito (Puerto Rican Coconut Rum Drink, Egg-Free & Vegan Versions)
- Puerto Rican Sofrito (Recaito)
- Homemade Adobo Seasoning
- Habichuelas Guisadas (Puerto Rican Stewed Beans)
5 from 42 votes
Slow Cooker Pernil (Puerto Rican Roasted Pork Shoulder)
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 9 hours
Total Time 9 hours 15 minutes
Servings 8 -10 servings
- 7-8
pound
picnic pork shoulder
skin removed - 14-16
cloves
garlic
peeled - 1 1/2
tablespoon
kosher salt - 1/2
tablespoon
ground black pepper - 1
tablespoon
dried oregano - 1/4
cup
olive oil
Use a boning knife to remove the skin from the roast.
Leave a layer of fat on the pork shoulder.Once the skin is removed, poke the roast all over with the knife to create slits.
Smash the garlic, salt, pepper and oregano with a mortar and pestle, or blitz in a food processor.
Add olive oil to the paste, and stir to combine.
Slather all sides of the pork shoulder with the garlic paste, making sure to push some into the slits you created earlier.
Marinate overnight, or up to 24 hours. If you don’t have time to marinade, don’t worry. It will still be delicious.
Place the pork shoulder into a 6 quart slow cooker ceramic insert fat side down, and cook for 9-10 hours on low or 6-7 hours on high, until the meat shreds easily and the bone is completely detached from the meat.
Leave a layer of fat on the pork shoulder.