Cuban Pernil (Instant Pot)
Pernil is the Spanish word for shoulder, the cut I am using to make this pulled pork. Pernil is a staple at the dinner table in all Latin cultures, each with their own variations. The pork is rubbed and marinated with a very minimal amount of ingredients; then slowly roasted until it is tender and shreddable with a fork. This particular recipe involves the Instant Pot. What would normally take 4-6 hours in the oven or slow cooker takes only 90 minutes. That’s right. 90 minutes. Any cut of an animal that requires slow cooking like chuck roast, bottom round, lamb shoulder, shanks, brisket, etc, takes only 15 minutes per pound. The results are always amazing! It feels like the meat slowly cooked for hours. I highly recommend investing in an Instant Pot; especially if you want to cut cooking times down to a fraction of how long it normally would take.
Equipment
- instant pot
Ingredients
- 5 lbs pork shoulder cubed
- 4 limes juiced
- 1 head garlic minced
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 3 tsp salt
- 3 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tbsp oregano
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Cut the pork shoulder into big cubes. Marinate in the lime juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, cumin, and oregano for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Add the marinated pork to the instant pot with a cup of water. Set the function to pressure cooker on high for 90 minutes.
- After the 90 minutes is up, your pork is ready to eat. An additional step that I like to do but isn’t necessary is to put the pork with some of the juices under the broiler for 10 minutes to crisp it up.
- Serve with Cuban rice.
