My Perfect Thanksgiving Day Authentic Puerto Rican Pernil Recipe

So if you have read this blog over past holidays you know that I am obsessed with cooking pernil for the family.    Pernil is the quintessential holiday roast from the Puerto Rican side of my family.   I LOVE PERNIL.    Garlicky, salty, porky goodness.    YUM YUM YUM

You can witness my obsession with pernil recipes by visiting my Pernil Pork Party.

Ok ok ok.   So over the last few weeks I have been experimenting with ideas for a better pernil recipe than what I put together last year.   I have been messing around with the brine, the cure, the timing of brine and cure, and a custom injection for the pig.

The recipe I developed this year ended up being the best pernil recipe I have ever come up with.    I have maintained all the authentic puerto rican essentials while applying a few tactics to dial up the flavors and perfect the crispy chicharron.

Ok so without any further notice here is my perfect pernil recipe for pernil al horno....

Lets start with the meat.   Get a nice 9lb picnic cut pork shoulder.  It's the perfect meat for pernil.    The better the pig the better the pernil.   Go for the good stuff and get it from your local butcher.    The picnic cut is the lower part of the shoulder as depicted here in this cool butcher pic:

The next step it to prep the meat by scoring the skin with nice long and deep lines across the skin as seen here:

My Tio Benny taught me this scoring technique.    In Cocina Criolla (the best Puerto Rican cook book) it tells you to score the skin with diamonds.    The lines going across the back of the skin from one side to the other is way better.   When the chicharron crisps up it ends up being little chicharron candy sticks.   It is awesome.   Crispy, salty, sticks of pork skin.  YUM

Now it's time for the flavor.  Pernil is all about the flavor.   For pernil al horno the authentic ingredients for flavoring are:

oregano

cider

black peppercorn

garlic garlic garlic

salt salt salt salt :)

You will see this ingredient combination over and over again in my recipe.   It is the foundation of the pernil flavor and an absolute requirement for an authentic pernil.

The first flavor step is the brine...   Here is my perfect pernil brine recipe:

Pernil Brine Recipe:

6 bay leaves

3 stalks of oregano

25 mixed peppercorns

2 halved heads of garlic

16 cups of water

3 cups of salt

2 cups of sugar

A healthy sprinkle of Goya Adobo 

I left it in the cold brine for 24 hours sitting in the frig.   Once that was done I removed the pig from the brine and dried it off in preparation of the marinade/cure.  

Here is my recipe for the perfect pernil marinade/cure:

(Designed for a 9lb picnic cut pork)

With a mortar and pestle mash up the following:

15 cloves of garlic
2.5 tablespoons of fresh chopped oregano (a couple fo sprigs)
16 black peppercorns
12 teaspoons of kosher salt
the meat of 2 reconstituted new mexican drilled chillies

Once that is mashed up add in the following and mash it up some more until it is a nicely integrating marinade/cure

2 1/4 teaspoons of cider vinegar
2 1/4 teaspoons of olive oil

Rub down your pig with 2/3 of the marinade.   Get the rub all over the pig.   Every inch must be coated in it.    Stab the pig with a long knife to make some deep cuts in the pig that are about big enough to fit your finger in them.   Shove the remaining marinade/cure into these holes to ensure you are infusing the flavor into the meat.

Here is a pic of my marinade and my pernil after I applied the marinade/cure

Once that is all done cover it up and stick it in the frig.   Don't touch it for 3 whole days.   The longer it sits the better.  I like 3 days.

The next step is the injection.    I whip up a quick injection by making a soup from the following recipe:

2 roasted garlic heads (45 minutes in the oven at 400)
8 black peppercorns
2 sprigs of oregano chopped up
pinch of salt
splash of cider vinegar
1 cup of water

I boil it and then strain it out so I have the liquid only for the injection.   Prepare it the night before you want to cook or put it in a quick ice bath the day of to cool it down.  The injection must be cool.

Take the meat out of the frig 30 minutes before you cook it and inject about 3 injection needles worth of the soup mixture.   This gets more of the essential flavor into the pernil and also makes sure it is nice and juicy.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and stick the meat in for 35 minutes for every lb of meat.   Make sure it is covered.  About 45 minutes before its done take off the cover.   In the last 10 minutes turn it up to 450 and get that chichiarron nice and crispy.

What you get is friggin amazing.   Pure deliciousness.   The perfect pernil!

SALTY

GARLICKY

YUM YUM DELICIOUS!

THE PERFECT PERNIL

My quest for the perfect pernil - FINALE - Pernil Pork Party

My thanksgiving went off without a hitch.   My pernil was AMAZING.   It is a perfect recipe and one that I am quite proud of.   I will be posting and finalizing the recipe in my next post but here are some delicious pictures of the perfect pernil for the holiday and the finale of my pernil pork party

YUM YUM YUM
The Perfect Pernil

Pernil Pork Party - Thanksgiving Update

Ok folks.   I woke up at 6am to prep the pig for the hole.    The best thing was when I took it out of the refrigerator and opened it.   It was the most fragrant Pernil I have smelled.    You can defintely smell the garlicy goodness but what also came through was the increased fresh oregano and peppers.    YUM.  It went in the hole at 636am so I will be able to pull it out at 1037am.    Tick Tock the smells are going to kill me!!!

I applied a final hit of adobo and fried the skin in hot canola oil for 5 minutes to really crisp it up.  YUM

Pernil Pork Party - Secret Brine for the Perfect Pork

So in my journey for the perfect Pernil for my holiday ham I "invented" a fun brine to inject into the pig after I season it.   When I tried the brine on my last practice pig it came out amazing!   The Pernil was one of the juiciest Pernil hams I have ever had (and oh btw I have eaten ALOT of pernil).

FYI Pernil is the PERFECT holiday recipe

So here is the recipe and a few pics to help you guide your way to a killer brine development.    I am half debating flavors I want to secretly start injecting into my wife Megan to make my life a little tastier.   Just kidding.....


Here is my original recipe:

Marinade for Injection

1 Thai Chili

1 Dried New Mexican Chili

1 Dried Chipolte Chili

1 Tablespoon of Cider Vinegar

1.5 Cup of Water

.5 Cup Vegatable Stock

Adobo 

I of course has fundamental issues following directions so here is the modified recipe I used in the final based on my last taste experience

Marinade for Injection

2 Dried New Mexican Chili

2 Dried Chipolte Chili

1/4 cup of Cider Vinegar

1.5 Cup of Water

.5 Cup Vegatable Stock

1 large garlic halved

Adobo (to taste) 

FRESH Oregano (to taste)

8 black peppercorns

Add the water and chilies to a pan and bring it to boil.  Basically he trick is to get the peppers to release there flavor by mangling them a bit as you turn them.   Once the water is nice and colored then toss in the halved garlic, peppercorns and a bit of oregano to taste.   You will taste the chilies and get only a TINY bit of heat which makes it nice.   Control the heat by removing the chilies when you feel it is hot enough.   

Add the cider and stock and cook it down a bit.    Toss in the adobo to taste.    yum yum

Here is a pic of the brine going on the stove top for me.     

I removed the meat from the chilies and added them to my final seasoning recipe.  Here is a picture of the final brine and the scooped out pepper.   Now I did make a ton of brine which I only injected 2 needles with but I wanted the flavors to blend well.

In the next step I seasoned the meat according to this final recipe:

Seasoning

10 Cloves of Garlic

1.5 Teaspoons Cider Vinegar

1.5 Teaspoons of Olive Oil

Adobo

.5 Teaspoon Dried Oregano

1 Teaspoon Chopped Fresh Oregano

8 Black Peppercorns

8 Tablespoon of Salt

Scooped out peppers from my brine

Crush up all the goodness with your mortar and pestle.   Have your pig out for a bit to bring up its temperature.   I left mine out 30 mins.  It was a 7" pernil btw.    YUM YUM

I stabbed 2" holes all through it as well as cutting diamonds into the skin to make sure I can eat that pernil pork bubble gum once it cooks.  YUM YUM

I stuff the holes i cut with the seasoning and coated every inch of the pig with the seasoning.    It is now in my refrigerator and will sit there until thanksgiving morning where I will cook my holiday ham puerto rican style... PERNIL.   YUM YUM

Here is a pic of the seasoned ham with the juice injected.

SO.   I will post new pics when it comes out and take interviews from my family.   I tested these recipes on a "focus group" of my wife and my friends the weeks prior to thanksgiving.   I have been given a full two thumbs up green light from seasoned pernil eaters.     I CAN NOT WAIT

YUM YUM PERNIL!

Pernil Pork Party - IMPORTANT UPDATE

With my recipe finalized it is time to get onto my true holiday ham.  
The Pernil Pork Party BEGINS TODAY.

All Hail His Swinyness

Pernil Pork Party Climatic Trial

Today I cooked the pig.  350 degrees 4h40m.   I let it rest for 30 mins.   So we actually had to leave the house while it was cooking because it smelt so good it was torturing us.   

I dont have much to say about it outside of YUM.   Salty garlicy goodness.    I am in heaven

God bless Pernil.   I am going to stick to my recipe.   Yum yum yum

Pernil Pork Party - Chapter 2

Today I began the process of my 2nd practice Pernil.    My plan is to season the Peril on Monday and allow it to sit in the seasoning until Saturday when I will cook it.  This should allow the meat to really absorb the flavor and thus make the meat extra tasty.

I have already began calling audibles on the recipe based on my experience, trials, and remembering Thomasa's (my abuelita's) recipe for pernil.

Here is a picture of the ingredients all put together on a table:

Seasoning

10 Cloves of Garlic

1.5 Teaspoons Cider Vinegar

1.5 Teaspoons of Olive Oil

Adobo

.5 Teaspoon Dried Oregano

1 Teaspoon Chopped Fresh Oregano

8 Black Peppercorns

8 Tablespoon of Salt

Marinade for Injection

1 Thai Chili

1 Dried New Mexican Chili

1 Dried Chipolte Chili

1 Tablespoon of Cider Vinegar

1.5 Cup of Water

.5 Cup Vegatable Stock

Adobo 

Mash up all the seasoning ingredients except the adobo together in a mortar and pestle.  Remember to mash it up good as the more you mash it up the better it tastes as mashing the garlic really releases it's flavor. 

Once the seasoning is made its time to take the meat out of the refrigerator.   Unwrap it and put it on a platter.

My energy at this point turned towards the injection marinade.   For this marinade I start with tossing the whole chilies into the pot with the water and vinegar.  Bring it to a boil as we are trying to extract some of the peppery goodness from the peppers into our marinade.   Be strong with the chilies and kind of manhandle them in the boiling water with some tongs.    The water should begin to turn a red/brown tint due to the chilies letting their goodness go.  The more manhandled the chilies gets the spicier the boil gets.  So be careful!  Once its nice and colored toss in the vegetable stock and let it cook down a bit.   Once it has reduced (like 10% after the stock was added) its time to turn the mixture off.    Feel free at this point to season it with adobo to your liking.   Before we inject the pig with it we need to cool it down.   So toss the pot in the freezer to get the temperature way down. 


Now for a fun part and how we are going to finish off our seasoning.   Finely chop up the New Mexico and Chipolte chilies and mash them into the seasoning mix too.

We are now ready to turn our eyes to the pig.   As per the original recipe we cut diamonds into the skin bit of the pig.    When the skin cooks it gets really hard so make sure they are bit size little pieces when you cut in your diamonds.

Grab a nice long thin knife and start stabbing the pig like the (&!@(#*& pig did ya wrong.   Cut nice deep holes in it.


Rub down the pig with the seasoning and use your fingers to push seasoning down into the stab holes that you made with your knife.   Once every inch is coated its time to give it a final seasoning with some adobo (amount depends on your taste) and let the pig rest in the refrigerator for a couple of days.  The longer it sits the tastier so take your time.   I prepared mine on Monday and my intent is to cook it on Saturday.   This should make it extra tasty.

Here is a picture of my piggy goodness before it goes into the frig.   Of course...and I hope this goes without saying...but cover the pig and make sure it is covered good.  It will be a stinky pig as its got a ton of garlic in it :)

Pernil Pork Party Chapter #1 (prev post)

Pernil Pork Party Clinical Trial (next post)

Pernil Pork Party - Chapter 1

Ok. So what better way to christen munchedia but by making my first post about one of my absolute favorite dishes on the planet earth....Pernil. Garlicy, salty, porky goodness that has been the ham of choice in my family (both the Puerto Rican and Irish side) since I can remember. A part of me believes that when i was a baby my mother must of pureed this dish and spoon fed it to me as simply the smell and the taste of this dish makes me feel like I was wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold day. YUM is all I can say.

For this recipe I look to the Mother Superior of Puerto Rican cuisine Carmen Ahoy Valldejuli, author of Cocina Criolla and Puerto Rican Cookery. If you don't have her book then you need to take the following steps RIGHT NOW.

1. Step away from the computer
2. Dress yourself
3. Run to the nearest book store
4. AND BUY HER BOOK.

For those who are pre-occuppied right now who can not run off to get it I have left you with a link on amazon to both of her books.

Buy It Now

Pernil is the holiday ham on the island and more importantly in my family! Every Christmas and Thankgiving the pork gods decend from the heavens and bless my plate with deliciousness. However this year is different...this year I must begin to embrace the tradition by becoming the vehicle by which his swinyness executes his blessing to my family....I must make the holiday ham.

My mission is to make the most savory delicious Pernil for my family Thanksgiving celebration so I can continue the tradition that I cherish and promote the heritage of the Puerto Rican culture.

I will be documenting my journey to porky goodness and will be sharing my story of taking on this tradition.

A wise man once said "How does one get to Carnegie hall? Practice, Practice, Practice." and I believe in this words. Therefore I am spending the weeks up until thanksgiving perfecting my Pernil so I can make my family proud through my pork.

My base recipe is from Carmen's cookbook and is as follows:

Roast Leg of Pork A la Criolla

Pernil al Horno

I Preparation of the meat day before roasting:

1. Remove skin and excess fat.
2. Weight meat and jot down its exact weight, since both quantity of seasoning and time required for roasting depends upon its weight
3. Wash meat rapidly under running water, drain and wipe dry with absorbent paper
4. Place meat in roasting pan, fat side up. Score top of the roast in diamonds.
5. Prepare seasoning according to weight of trimmed roast, following recipe for seasoning that will be listed below. Season roast and set in refrigerator.

Seasoning for 4 to 5-pound trimmed roast

6 peppercorns - whole black pepper

6 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 teaspoon while dried oregano

1.5 tablespoons of olive oil

1.5 tablespoons vinegar

1 teaspoon salt for each pound of roast

Crush and mix seasoning ingredients in a mortar

*I have chosen to leave the seasoning for other sizes of meat out.

II Roasting:

1. Remove meat from the refrigerator 30 mins prior to roasting
2. Drain off any liquid that may have seeped form the meat and pour liquid over meat before putting it in the oven
3. Preheat oven and roast meat at 350 degrees for 35 minutes per pound. The internal temperature should be 185 degrees

Now based on watching my abuelita, mom, and titis I know I am going to call a few audibles here.

First off you need to season your meat for more than a day. When I was growing up my mother used to season her meat 4 days in advance. Back then the smell of garlic overtook our entire house. We would drink milk in the morning and it had the essence of garlic in it because the garlic smell got into everything! This tactic allows the meat to really absorb the savory seasoning.

They also used to stab the meat with a knife cutting deep holes all over the ham. They would then make an additional bunch of seasoning and push the seasoning into the dagger wounds with their fingers. This tactic made it so delish.

I made one last week to ready myself for the journey with a private practice session. I made two errors that made the meat less tasty then my abuelita's.....I did not marinate the meat long enough and I did not cut the holes deep enough. So this time I am going to season the meat this coming monday and let it sit in the refrigerator until saturday when I cook it. In addition when shank the pig i am going to shank the !@#$ pig like it was my mortal enemy.

I also added an additional tactic last time that I saw Micheal Symon on Cooking Channel use. He seared the meat before hand in order to plus up the flavor before roasting. I am going to put about an 1/8" on oil in the pan and crispy up the skin and fat before I put it in the to roast. Crispy pig skin is NEVER a bad thing :) Write that down.

Anyway my adventures in meat will start on monday when I pick up my pig. Till then...