Empingao Cubano (Sandwich)
Delicious and authentic Cuban “Empingao” sandwich. An amazing jewel of caribeen cuisine.
Servings Prep Time
10People 20Minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
60Minutes 12Hours
Servings Prep Time
10People 20Minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
60Minutes 12Hours
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a mortar we mash the peeled garlic cloves with to the oregano, bay leaf, ground cumin and black peppercorns.
  2. Add the olive oil and mix well.
  3. Clean the piece of pork from excess of fat but leave some of it for flavor.
  4. With this preparation rub the meat well covering all the surface.
  5. Place the meat it in a bowl deep enough so that we can add onions (cut into julienne), white wine, vinegar and orange juice.
  6. Cover the container with plastic and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.
  7. Remove the marinade from the refrigerator and let it stand at room temperature for about half an hour.
  8. Lift the meat over the marinade and clean it, keeping every ingredient inside since we will use its contents in the next step of the preparation.
  9. In a very hot pan, with a little olive oil, we seal the meat everywhere until you get a beautiful golden color.
  10. We place the meat in a baking dish and pour over the marinade content.
  11. In a preheated 350ºF oven, place the uncovered meat.
  12. We cook it in the oven for about an hour (until it reaches the internal temperature of 145 F). Is recommended to wet the meat with the marinade every 20 minutes.
  13. Remove the meat from the oven and the sauce and let it rest for half an hour (we can cover it with aluminum foil)
  14. Meanwhile in a pan, reduce the marinade until it thickens a little. We pour the contents of the marinade in a beater glass and crush to make the mojo until you reach a thick sauce with texture but as homogeneous as possible. This will be the “mojo” sauce we will use when we make our sandwiches.
  15. If it thickens too much we can lighten the mojo by adding small portions each time of water or even milk and continue beating. Reserve the mojo.
  16. Once the meat has rested, we slice it thinly.
  17. Preheat an pan, a griddle or a grill and move on to assemble our sandwiches.
  18. Depending on the bread we use (we recommend using a good bread roll or hoagie, but you can use any type you prefer) we must have two portions that will form the initial layer and the lid of the sandwich.
  19. Spread both layers of bread with honey mustard on the inside where the ingredients are going to be mounted.
  20. We put the following layers in this order:
  21. – 1 slice of cheese
  22. – 2 or 3 slices of cooked ham
  23. – 1 or 2 fillets of pork, we spread them with the mojo (do not use in excess or this will leave the edges of the bread.
  24. – 1 slice of cheese
  25. – 2 or three pickle fillets (thinly sliced lengthwise)
  26. Cover with the other part of the bread.
  27. Butter the bread on both sides.
  28. Place the sandwich on the grill or griddle (if it is not double it is advisable to place a meat press or other weight on the bread to crush it lightly) and once the first side of the bread is golden brown we turn it over and do the same operation.
  29. We will know that it is ready when the cheese is melted and the bread looks golden brown and toasted.
  30. We can serve it with french fries, chips or even tostones.