Mexican Christmas food traditions are as rich as the foods themselves. Mexican Christmas recipes such as Roast Pork in Adobo Sauce are heartwarming and delicious.
Recipes that are filtered down through generation after generation are rarely changed – and with good reason, especially when the recipe is as perfect as dishes such as this Roast Pork in Adobo Sauce.
Roast Pork in Adobo Sauce is one of the traditional Mexican Christmas recipes that continues to water the tastebuds of families across the world, due to its flavour rich infusion and delicious, enticing smell.
When it comes to the holidays, many families have their favorite menu traditions – year after year, gathering to experience the loved yet tired celebratory dishes.
For this holidays, we’re promising to entice your taste buds with delicious Christmas ingredients that will have you inspired to create an entirely new addition to this year’s menu.
Check out our online store for great Mexican food and liquor items this festive season. Sprinkle in a new flavour, blend existing dishes together, take a leap of faith on a new approach to an old favorite – we guarantee you’ll be in adoration of the favorite explosion from every bite.
If you’re keen to spice up the Christmas dinner table with this Roast Pork in Adobo Sauce recipe, we’ve got the full recipe below!
Roasted Pork Leg in Adobo Sauce, tamales and Pork Leg in Adobo are some of the dishes that many families prefer for New Year’s Eve dinner since the leftovers are really tasty. A delicious and elegant dish that’s perfect for a nice dinner.
Roast Pork in Adobo Sauce
(Photo credit and Adapted from recipe by Mely Martinez – Mexico in my Kitchen)
Approx 20 servings
Ingredients
1 pork leg 4.5kg, skin removed
1-2 tins of Embasa Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce, enough to cover the meat
For the marinade
10 garlic cloves
1/2 large white onion
6 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon of coarse salt
Aluminum foil or oven bag
Instructions
- Pierce the pork leg with the help of a sharp knife.
- Roast the garlic and onion in a pan. Transfer the roasted onion and garlic along with bay leaves, oregano, black pepper, cumin, orange juice, vinegar and salt into a blender. Process until you have a smooth sauce, almost like a paste.
- Transfer the Pork leg to a large baking dish and cover with the marinade sauce making sure it gets inside the incisions and penetrates the meat. Leave to marinade in the fridge for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
- To bake, remove pork leg from the fridge and let stand at room temperature. Preheat oven 20 minutes before roasting at 175 degrees Celcius.
- Using a pastry brush, spread the melted lard on the meat. Make sure you cover it completely.
- Cover pork leg all over with half of the Adobo sauce and place in the preheated oven. Cover meat with aluminum foil. (If using a roasting bag, make sure to tie the bag and make the incisions according to the package instructions).
- After 1 hour, turn the meat and baste with its own juices. Then baste the meat again one hour later and turn the pork leg over. Turn the meat at least twice during the cooking process.
- It is very important to keep the baking dish tightly covered with aluminum foil to keep the meat moist. If you see that it’s getting dry, add more of the adobo sauce. The cooking time will depend on the pork leg’s size and weight. The average baking time is 1 hour of baking for every 900g of meat.
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When you see that the meat is done, uncover and turn the oven temperature up to 230 degrees Celcius. Roast for about 8-10 minutes to brown the meat.
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Place leftover juices from the baking pan and the remaining adobo sauce in a medium-size skillet and simmer for about 8 minutes. Taste, add more seasoning or marinade spices if needed. Use this sauce to pour over the slices of meat when serving.
NB. It is very important to keep the baking dish tightly covered with aluminum foil to keep the meat moist. If you see that it’s getting dry, add more of the adobo sauce. The cooking time will depend on the pork leg’s size and weight. The average baking time is 1 hour of baking for every 900g of meat.
This process only takes several minutes and you should monitor the meat to prevent burning. Remove meat and let stand about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
When the meat can easily be pierced by a fork then it’s almost done. It will take about 5 hours. The meat should be moist and fall apart on the fork!
Recipe Source and Photo Credit: https://www.mexicoinmykitchen.com/roasted-pork-leg-in-adobo-sauce/