Mojo! Mojo! Mojo! A Cuban’s blood, in my opinion is 49% mojo, 49% Cuban coffee and 2% those tiny cells that make the body “function.” But let’s be real it’s really the mojo and Cuban coffee. Mojo is the dressing used for every lechon (pork) that you have probably eaten. Made with sour oranges, spices and oil, it’s a blend of perfection!
Typically, for everyday usage I just use a bottle of mojo criollo from the store, but for special occasions I like to prepare my homemade version. Making mojo always reminds me of Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) where I would spend hours juicing sour oranges and peeling garlic to make the mojo. My dad, grandfather and I would always buy what seemed to be 100lbs of sour oranges to squeeze out about a cup of juice. If you’ve ever juiced a sour orange, you would know what I mean. Those things give what feels like a tablespoon of juice and about thousands of seeds, that clog up your juicer and you must stop after the fourth one to clean it out. But let me tell you, the work is worth it.
How do you make cuban mojo?
Mojo is extremely easy to make, but just takes a little patience with all the garlic peeling, and orange squeezing. But once you have all your oranges juiced, all you have to do is add your diced garlic, spices and blend it. Super easy!
So, give it a try, and start juicing and peeling away. I promise you won’t regret it.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Sour orange juice If you can't find sour oranges, you can use one cup of orange juice, half a cup of lime juice and half a cup of lemon juice.
- 8 Cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Oregano
Instructions
- Using a juicer, squeeze the oranges to obtain 2 cups of juice. Strain the juice to remove the seeds and pulp into a measuring cup.
- Peel 8 cloves of garlic and place in a food process to finely chop into small pieces.
- In a blender (or if your food processor is big enough), combine the sour orange juice, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano. Pulse to combine.
- Done! Now marinate your favorite type of meat with this!
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