Lechón Asado: A spin on Cuban cuisine

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Why this Recipe? Glad you asked! Lechon asado is a Cuban pork dish consisting of incredible flavors and great ingredients. It uses Pork shoulder cooked at a low temperature for a long duration of time ensuring the citrus and salty marinade flavors enhance the meat. Leachon Asado is usually left overnight in the fridge to soak up the marinade flavors but for this recipe we’re going to keep it simple. 

Substitutions? To keep his recipe traditional we used pork shoulder but there’s always substitution, You just have to be creative! The best vegan/ vegetarian option would be Jackfruit, it looks the most like pulled pork, although it seems like it would be difficult to find, it’s actually quite common in Asian Markets, and while Tofu would be the easy way out it doesn’t have the proper texture to pork so be careful with substitutions with particular foods.  

Is pork (pig) sustainable you ask? Well here’s the grey line, pork is lower on the emissions list so we have some flexibility in using it on occasion. Pork is responsible for 29 pounds (13kg) of CO2 while beef is 218 pounds (99kg) of CO2 emissions per 1 pound of meat produced, making pork a more conscious meat for occasional consumption (Oguz,S., & Parker, S. 2023). 

13 kg of CO2 is the emissions released for every 1 kg of pork produced.

99 kg of CO2 is the emissions released for every 1 kg of beef produced

 Let’s put that in perspective for Beef  it would take 4.5 trees 1 year to absorb 218 lbs of carbon, multiply that by that amount of beef produced annually which is 132 Billion pounds and you get a ridiculously long period of time. Fun Fact there are more trees on earth than stars in the sky but we still have 422 parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere. It may not be the best numbers but there is still hope (Crowther et al., 2015, Lan et al., 2025).

How do we make Lechon asado? Let’s dive in and break it down. Lechon Asado consists of 3 basic food groups: pork shoulder, rice, and black beans. Since we won’t be marinated overnight we will put it in a crockpot for less preparation, fill the crockpot with vegetable broth and citrus juice like oranges and lime juice for that tangy flavor, as well as adding in the additional seasonings and cut onions, then simply leave it to cook on low for 6 hrs and during the 1 hr before dinner mark cook it on high. During the last few minutes of cooking time prepare your rice, it’s preferable to cook your rice in a pan but a rice cooker will also work! For the pan method take 2 cups of rice and 2 cups of water or vegetable broth on high heat along with salt pepper and a good amount of adobo seasoning to give the rice a kick of flavor. The rice pan should be HOT before putting in the water, after the water is added cover with a sealed lid and turn to low for about 15 minutes, when you have 5 minutes left keep a close eye on it, rice is tricky to get right and may need some attentiveness. The rice is done when all the water has evaporated from the bottom and is tender. For the black beans we can keep it simple and just heat them up with no seasoning to balance out the pork and rice. 

What sides can I add? Good question, lechon asado is a great dish and can have different sides to enhance the flavors. My personal favorite is fried plantains. It’s a common option and has a unique flavor profile with the pork, another good sustainable option are pan seared vegetables or a diced Mediterranean salad consisting of chopped vegetables and red onion to add freshness to the rice. 

With all the options and flavor profiles of lechon asado it’s a great dish to make for company and the pork will serve many people with additional cups of rice. Thank you for your interest in this fabulous dinner recipe and don’t forget to share your thoughts!