The dish to eat in Miami · United States

Cuban sandwich

Name: Cuban sandwich with mojo roast pork
Yield: 4
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: For the mojo pork: 3 lb (1.4 kg) boneless pork shoulder, 1 cup (240 ml) sour orange juice (or 2/3 cup orange juice + 1/3 cup lime juice), 8 garlic cloves mashed, 1 tbsp dried oregano, 1 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil; 1 loaf Cuban bread (or 4 soft, lightly crusty sub rolls, about 8 inches/20 cm); 4 tbsp yellow mustard; 12 oz (340 g) sweet glazed ham, thinly sliced; 8 oz (225 g) Swiss cheese, thinly sliced; 16 thin dill pickle slices; 3 tbsp soft butter

Photo: Averette, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · source

Roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard pressed hot and flat in Cuban bread.

Cuban cigar workers carried the sandwich between Havana, Key West and Tampa; Miami made it its own after 1959. You order it at a ventanita (a walk-up window) with a tiny, sweet cafecito.

Where to eat it Cook it at home

Where to eat it: the best three in Miami

Versailles
Calle Ocho, Little Havana
Order: A Cubano and a cafecito from the ventanita
The famous Cuban restaurant on Calle Ocho since 1971, the heart of exile Miami.
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Sanguich de Miami
SW 8th Street, Little Havana
Order: The Cubano, with pork they brine and roast themselves
A young shop that makes every part in-house, now often named the best.
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Enriqueta's Sandwich Shop
NE 2nd Avenue, Wynwood
Order: Cuban sandwich or a pan con bistec, with a cortadito
A tiny old-school lunch counter in Wynwood since the 1960s.
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All three are on Chef Amazing’s list The best Cuban sandwich in Miami, which you can save and take with you.

Cook it at home: Cuban sandwich with mojo roast pork

Serves 4Time 4 hr, plus overnight marinating

The roast pork is the heart, marinated in garlic and sour-orange mojo and roasted until tender. Then it's layering in the right order and pressing in a hot pan until crisp and flat.

Pans and tools

Roasting pan
Large skillet or griddle
Second heavy skillet or a foil-wrapped brick (or a panini press)

You’ll need

For the mojo pork: 3 lb (1.4 kg) boneless pork shoulder, 1 cup (240 ml) sour orange juice (or 2/3 cup orange juice + 1/3 cup lime juice), 8 garlic cloves mashed, 1 tbsp dried oregano, 1 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
1 loaf Cuban bread (or 4 soft, lightly crusty sub rolls, about 8 inches/20 cm)
4 tbsp yellow mustard
12 oz (340 g) sweet glazed ham, thinly sliced
8 oz (225 g) Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
16 thin dill pickle slices
3 tbsp soft butter

Steps

Mix the sour orange juice, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper and oil. Put the pork in a bag, pour in the mojo and refrigerate overnight.
Heat the oven to 325F (165C). Put the pork and marinade in a roasting pan, cover with foil, and roast 3 hours, basting once, until very tender. Uncover for the last 30 minutes to brown.
Rest the pork 20 minutes, then slice thin. (Or chill and slice cold.)
Cut the bread into four 8-inch (20 cm) pieces and split them. Spread mustard on both cut sides.
Layer in this order: ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, then pickles.
Butter the outside of the bread.
Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium. Put in the sandwiches and press down hard with a second heavy skillet or a foil-wrapped brick.
Cook 3 to 4 minutes per side, pressing, until the bread is crisp and flat and the cheese melts. Cut on the diagonal and serve.

Chef’s tips

No sour oranges? The orange-and-lime mix is close.

Leftover mojo pork makes great fried rice or tacos.

Miami's version has no salami; Tampa's does.

Contains: Wheat (gluten), milk, mustard.

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