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Cubanos and Mojo Pork - description and pics

Stormbringer
Stormbringer Posts: 2,515
edited May 24 in EggHead Forum
I watched the film Chef, and then the Chef Show spin-off. In one episode, Roy Choi (accompanied by Jon Favreau and Bill Burr) makes the cubanos sandwich from the film . The core of the recipe was slow roasted pork, brined and marinated in advance. This seemed an obvious candidate for making in the Egg. So that's exactly what SWMBO and I did over the last 48 hours.

These are the recipes we followed ... roast mojo pork and cubano. The mojo pork ingredients were accurate, although I did need to a bit more water and orange juice to get the 6lb pork butt covered. Brined overnight in the fridge for 16 hours. No pics of the meat brining because ... well, that's just meat in a brine. :) 

The next day, at 11:00, I applied the marinade and let that set in for 2 hours. I fired up the Egg, got it to 275F and then put in the pork:

This is how it looked after an hour:

I basted at this point and for a further for 3 hours:

At this point, the pork stalled at 157F so I wrapped it in foil and parchment to get it to 170F IT, the overall cook time was 6 hours rather than the 4 hours in the recipe. When at temperature, I removed the pork butt and let it rest for 30 mins, then carved:

The cubano were assembled and heated using a hot plate:

Then sliced, professional style with a diagonal cut :)

They tasted absolutely amazing. We followed the cubano recipe as per the link above, but put in a small amount of mustard rather than slather the entire top level. SWMBO thought the small amount was good for her, I think I would have liked more. We also thought that more cheese, and a richer cheese (e.g. applewood) would be better, along with thinly sliced tomatoes. Fortunately, we have plenty of pork left, and will be doing the same over the next couple of nights.

Thanks for looking!
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| Cooking and blogging with a Large and Minimax in deepest, darkest England-shire
| My food blog ... BGE and other stuff ... http://www.thecooksdigest.com
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Comments

  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 17,667
    My favorite sandwich!  Try adding some thin-sliced smoked ham in addition to the mojo pork.  

    “Declare victory when you have retreated past the point where you started”   - Don Tzu

    Ogden, UT, USA

  • GrateEggspectations
    GrateEggspectations Posts: 12,181
    edited May 24
    Love your cook, and love that it was inspired by that movie. There’s so much to love about the film - great cast, heartwarming storyline, food, good lessons on the pitfalls of social media, etc. My wife and I probably watch it at least once a year - and I’m not a movie guy. Had seen maybe one episode of The Chef Show spinoff; will have to revisit!

    A few years back, I did a similar cubano cook for my wife’s birthday. 

    You did those sandwiches justice!

    The only thing missing from your post was some Sofia Vergara. 
  • Corv
    Corv Posts: 620
    That looks delicious! And thanks for the recipies, too.
    Somewhere on the Colorado Front Range
  • Stormbringer
    Stormbringer Posts: 2,515
    Botch said:
    My favorite sandwich!  Try adding some thin-sliced smoked ham in addition to the mojo pork.  
    @Botch we did just that, it's in the recipe for the cubano sandwich ... pork, smoked ham, cheese and pickles. :) 
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Cooking and blogging with a Large and Minimax in deepest, darkest England-shire
    | My food blog ... BGE and other stuff ... http://www.thecooksdigest.com
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------


  • Stormbringer
    Stormbringer Posts: 2,515
    edited May 24
    Love your cook, and love that it was inspired by that movie. There’s so much to love about the film - great cast, heartwarming storyline, food, good lessons on the pitfalls of social media, etc. My wife and I probably watch it at least once a year - and I’m not a movie guy. Had seen maybe one episode of The Chef Show spinoff; will have to revisit!

    A few years back, I did a similar cubano cook for my wife’s birthday. 

    You did those sandwiches justice!

    The only thing missing from your post was some Sofia Vergara. 
    Here you go ... :)

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Cooking and blogging with a Large and Minimax in deepest, darkest England-shire
    | My food blog ... BGE and other stuff ... http://www.thecooksdigest.com
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------


  • Paolo
    Paolo Posts: 272
    I love it when @Stormbringer drops one of his cooks! Honestly, from the very first day I came here 
  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 22,093
    Mouth watering!!! Holy moly!

    I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness.

  • Stormbringer
    Stormbringer Posts: 2,515
    edited May 27
    Thanks again folks. We tried variations on the cubanos, adding in tomatoes (worked well) and red onion pickles (worked really well). For the cheese, the applewood texture was a bit too dense so we went with Monterey Jack, which was fantastic. Lastly, we subbed out the ham for the chicken in one attempt, which turned out well too. Lots of different options to go with the base of mojo pork. 

    @Paolo your cooks are fantastic, as are the wines. :) 
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Cooking and blogging with a Large and Minimax in deepest, darkest England-shire
    | My food blog ... BGE and other stuff ... http://www.thecooksdigest.com
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------


  • YukonRon
    YukonRon Posts: 17,407
    I live a block away from one of the most popular restaurants in a very foodie  city, and it is Cuban cuisine. It is called Havana Rumba. 

    There is nothing on their menu that compares to your cook. 

    Very nicely done, thank you for sharing!
    "Knowledge is Good" - Emil Faber

    XL and MM
    Louisville, Kentucky
  • Florida Grillin Girl
    Florida Grillin Girl Posts: 5,030
    edited May 31
    Sorry to be late, but that is a fantastic cook. Where I live, there are many cuban restaurants, including The Columbia in Tampa since 1905. I think your cubano could compete with theirs! Very well done!
    Happily egging on my original large BGE since 1996... now the owner of 5 eggs. Call me crazy, everyone else does!
     
    3 Large, 1 Small, 1 well-used Mini
  • Stormbringer
    Stormbringer Posts: 2,515
    Thanks @YukonRon and @Florida Grillin Girl. The pork is now all consumed but I may do this for a work team BBQ later in the summer.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Cooking and blogging with a Large and Minimax in deepest, darkest England-shire
    | My food blog ... BGE and other stuff ... http://www.thecooksdigest.com
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------