Archives for the 'pig' tag
Crispy video: Pig in a box
This weekend in Miami my folks threw us a little engagement party and we roasted a pig in the backyard using a Caja China. What is a Caja China? Allow me to explain.
“Caja China” means Chinese box. Cubans engage in a bit of complimentary stereotyping and tend to call anything that’s inventive or ingenuous “Chinese”. Basically, it’s a way to cook a pig under a spit. It’s a stainless steel, aluminum, and wood box into which you put your pig. Coals go on top of the box’s lid and they radiate heat down onto the meat. I’m not sure why this is a good thing, but the result is a delicious pork roast.
My dad’s buddy, Cuco, was the chef in charge and he used his own home-made Caja china. A beautiful thing about Miami is that there are plenty of farms you can go to pick out your still-walking pig and take it home with you in a less-than-animated state. My dad brought home a lean 85-pounder which he marinated in mojo overnight. Cuco put the pig bottom-side down on the stainless steel interior of the box so that the skin receives direct heat only at the end of the cooking.
Cuco was an absolute trooper, braving a couple torrential downpours in his quest for porcine perfection. In the video you’ll see that halfway through Cuco opens the box and removes liquid that has been pooling in the pig’s main cavity. He does this so that the meat won’t stew. Another important step is making sure to remove the ash whenever you add more coal to ensure that it doesn’t block the heat. The box is opened one final time to flip the pig, exposing the not-yet-crispy skin. To get it deliciously crackling, Cuco’s secret is to brush it with saltwater. He says the salt draws moisture out of the skin so that the it crisps. Listen to the crackling when the pork is carved so you can hear just how damn crunchy it got. The meat, however, was succulent—truly crispy on the outside.
Crispy Podcast Episode 5
In this episode of our allegedly weekly podcast, we chat with Heather Lauer, proprietor of the bacon blog BaconUnwrapped.com. Heather recently inked a deal to write a book completely about bacon and is now on a road trip across the country visiting various bacon-related spots, including smokehouses and hog farms. We catch up with her in St. Louis and discuss her book, her travels, and all things bacon.
We hope you enjoy this episode and that you’ll tell us what you think. If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the show for free. You can grab the RSS feed or click here to subscribe in iTunes. That way you’ll get it every “week.”
