Pernil is the centrepiece of Puerto Rican holiday cooking — a bone-in leg of pork marinated in sofrito and achiote for 24 hours, roasted until falling-off-the-bone tender with burnished, crackling skin.
Serves 10–12 peoplePrep 40 minCook 6 hr
What you'll need
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Ingredients & method
Ingredients
- Bone-in leg of pork (skin on), 5–6 kg
- 10 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 3 tbsp coarse salt
- Juice of 2 limes
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp achiote (annatto) powder
- Fresh cilantro and lime to serve
Method
- 1Using a sharp knife, make deep incisions all over the pork, 2.5 cm deep. Pound garlic, oregano, cumin, pepper, and salt in a mortar to a rough paste. Mix with lime juice, oil, and achiote.
- 2Push the paste deep into every incision. Rub the remainder all over the surface and under the skin where possible. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 24–48 hours.
- 3Remove from the fridge 2 hours before roasting. Preheat oven to 160 °C. Place skin-up on a rack in a deep roasting pan.
- 4Roast for 6–7 hours, basting every hour with pan drippings. The pork is ready when a probe reads 90 °C and the meat shreds easily.
- 5Rest for 30 minutes. Pull the meat apart in chunks — some will have crackling attached. Serve with rice, beans, and lime.
Chef's tip
The skin is not scored for pernil — it stays whole and blisters into a hard, chewy cuerito that is considered a delicacy.