International Recipes
Venezuelan Pork Roast
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar (or piloncillo*)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 (2 1/2 pound) boneless pork leg
Instructions
- The day before: With a mortar and pestle, crush the salt, garlic and
oregano into a fine paste. Rub the roast all over with the garlic paste.
- Whisk together the tomato paste, white vinegar, brown sugar and Worcestershire
sauce. Rub the roast all over with the tomato paste mixture. Refrigerate covered
overnight.
- The next day, remove the roast from the refrigerator and allow it to come
to room temperature. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the roast in a pan on a roasting rack. Place it in the oven. After
about a half-hour and once the roast has started to render its fat and the drippings
on the bottom of the pan have started to caramelize, add a half-cup of water
to the pan — this will keep the drippings from burning. Roast the pork to an
internal temperature of 150 degrees.
- Remove the roast and let it rest in a warm place, loosely covered with aluminum
foil, for about 20 minutes.
- Skim the fat from the pan juices with a spoon. Slice the roast thinly and
serve covered with pan juices.
Serves 6.
* Piloncillo can be found in many Latino markets or in any grocery store in the
Southwest.