On our last night in Disney (in 2017) we had dinner at Bongos Cuban Cafe (now closed). The meal I ordered was delish! It was on the menu as Award Winning Cuban Slow Roasted Pulled Pork; traditional Cuban style marinated 24 hours topped with grilled onions and garlic lime mojo. Once we returned home, I wanted to copy it. After doing some good ol’ googling, I found a few recipes that were similar but often what I would find included unnecessary sugar or molasses or ketchup. Finally I found PaleOMG Crockpot Cuban Pork. I made a few changes; I didn’t use the vegetable broth and because I need a new crockpot, I used my Dutch oven and cooked it up on the stove, not in the oven. Next time I think I will put it in the oven. Although it came out wonderfully, the bottom made me too nervous on the stove-top, feeling like everything was going to cook too fast bottom-up and burn, which it will if the flame is too high/hot.
I took some inspiration from the recipe and remembered the taste of what I loved at Bongos. The result is what you see here! In Cuban cooking mojo means a sauce that is made with garlic, olive oil and a citrus juice, most often with an orange, and usually herbs like oregano and cumin; all of which, plus lime and cilantro, you’ll find in this Cuban Mojo Pulled Pork. At the restaurant it came with a side of onions and cabbage, so I also did the same with a horseradish cabbage & carrot coleslaw that I also found inspiration from the same recipe at PaleOMG Crockpot Cuban Pork. I did squeeze a bit of lime and orange in it as well.
You’ll need pork shoulder, I used a shoulder butt in this example. I wanted one with the bone still in as the bone gives more flavor to the meat while cooking but the deli I bought it from only had boneless. The shoulder contains all sorts of different muscle groups held together by connective tissue, which cooked low and slow bastes the meat with savory juices. I recently had also tried pork shoulder boneless picnic and although I understand it’s great for pulled pork, I don’t think I bought it from a good butcher, there was soooooo much fat! It was a 3 lb cut of “meat” but really 2.5 lbs of fat! Some great information found at this site Breakdown of Pork Primal Cuts
Below is a pic of the Dutch oven I have, I use it often, it gives me the ability to brown the meat on the stove-top then you put it in the oven so it cooks like a crockpot!
Using different recipes from different sites but mostly from paleomg, these are the items I had ready to use, but ended up not using the vegetable broth. I wanted to the marinade steam to cook the meat.
Starting with the marinade for the pork, slice the garlic and onion, place in a bowl.
Squeeze in juice from a lime and an orange giving the marinating liquid a nice lime-citrus zest to it!
Add cumin, cilantro and oregano.
Then add olive oil.
Let the marinade sit to the side and go back to the dutch oven and pork. Add olive oil. I went ahead and added some oregano. Allow the pork to brown on all sides, this locks in the flavor of the meat while it cooks in the dutch oven.
Once you’ve browned it, add the marinade.
Put the lid on top and allow to cook. On the stove-top I had it at a medium-low setting to start but lowered it to low when I thought it might be getting too hot on the bottom. It didn’t take a very long time to cook; on low heat for about 2 1/2 hours. In the oven at 325F I imagine it would take about the same amount of time or perhaps a bit longer, maybe 3 hours to perhaps 4 depending on the size of the meat.
For the slaw, I did use an easy bag but during the summer months from my farm share I had a ton of fresh cabbage and carrots that would make a great farm fresh slaw for this!
Pour in bowl. These are the items I used.
Grab some pickles and dice them up to a good size.
Add in the vinegar, mustard and olive oil.
I have this natural organic horseradish mustard I used at Christmas for a dip with broccoli wrapped brussel sprouts, it’s such a good mustard!!
Stir together and let sit so the flavors mix well. I squeezed some lime juice and orange juice to add that mojo zest to the coleslaw!
Then serve with the pork about 2 1/2 hours later!
I also cut up some tomatillos to add on the side. It seemed like the perfect meal to have these accompany. If you’ve never tried tomatillos, do so, they’re so good! Tart and refreshing, good paired with something spicey.
Take the husks off and slice, adding to the side of the pork. Enjoy and impress all your friends!!
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 3 hours |
| Servings |
people
|
- 1 head cabbage cut
- 2 carrots sliced thin or
- 1 bag cabbage carrot coleslaw if you don't have fresh cabbage or carrots, bag coleslaw will do just fine
- 5 dill pickles sliced and diceds
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 tbsp horseradish mustard or any great zesty mustard
- 1-2 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1/2 Lime juice squeezed to your liking
- 1/2 orange juice squeezed to your liking
Ingredients
Horseradish Citrus Lime Coleslaw Paleo Style
|
|
- For marinade: Slice onions and garlic and add to large bowl. Add cilantro, oregano and cumin. Add olive oil and squeeze lime and orange juices. Stir and set aside. Pork: Add a bit of olive oil to dutch oven at medium heat, then add pork, browning all sides. Pour marinade over pork, put lid on top and place on low heat. Allow to steam cook, trying not to lift lid too often, for 2-3 hours. I checked on mine to be sure the marinade and meat at bottom wasn't burning.
- Pour cabbage coleslaw into bowl. Add all ingredients and stir. Set aside to allow flavors to mix well. Serve with pork when ready!
Mustard is not mentioned in the actual recipe for the coleslaw.
Thank you so much for pointing that out! Just recently I uploaded a ton of new recipes but that actual instructions aren’t appearing and I’m not sure why. But this was my mistake, I didn’t include it when I originally posted. I added it in now, and it looks to be appearing, so that’s good. It’s about 1-2 tbsp or more depending on your taste preference! Enjoy!