Hornado de chancho – Roasted Pork Leg
User Reviews
4.7
726 reviews
Excellent
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Prep Time
30 mins
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Cook Time
8 hrs
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Additional Time
2 d
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Total Time
8 hrs 30 mins
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Servings
20 aproximately, depending on serving size and side dishes served
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Course
Main Course
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Cuisine
South American, American, Ecuadorian
Hornado de chancho – Roasted Pork Leg
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Hornado de chancho is a traditional roasted pork leg marinated with lime juice, garlic, cumin, and optional herbs, then slow-cooked with beer to enhance flavor and moisture. The recipe includes annatto powder or paprika for a distinctive reddish color and suggests serving with potatoes or traditional Ecuadorian side dishes.
Description
Hornado de chancho – Roasted Pork Leg uses a whole bone-in pork leg, marinated with a robust mixture of garlic, cumin, lime juice, salt, pepper, and optionally herbs like oregano or cilantro. Annatto powder adds a deep red hue common to the dish. The pork is marinated deeply, including stuffing some marinade into incisions made in the meat for flavor penetration.
The roasting process utilizes beer or alternatives like corn chicha or cider and orange juice blend to maintain moisture and add subtle sweetness. Potatoes can be roasted alongside or served separately. The skin can be scored for textural effect, and the dish is traditionally accompanied by sides such as hominy, rice, plantains, or fresh curtido salsa.
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Ingredients
- pork leg with the bone in, approximately 20 pounds
- lime juice juice of 3 limes
- 40 garlic about 3 whole heads of garlic - crushed or whole if blending the marinade, cloves
- 1/2 red onion or shallot; optional; small
- 3 tablespoons ground cumin
- 3 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon black pepper ground
- Optional: 1-2 tablespoons of dry or fresh herbs: oregano, parsley, cilantro, etc
- 8 cups beer can also use corn chicha or a mix of 6 cups beer/apple cider and 2 cups of orange juice for a sweeter tangy variation, for marinating and baking if juices dry up
- 4-8 ounces butter or lard, 1-2 sticks
- 2-3 tablespoons annatto powder replace with 1 tablespoon of paprika powder if you can’t find achiote, ground, or achiote
- 8-10 potato peeled and cut in half - optional (small fingerling or baby potatoes are also a good option, medium sized
Side dish options (choose your favorites):
- potato or, cooked with roasted pork
- potato patties can be made with the roasted hornado potatoes, Llapingacho style
- hominy or you can also sauté some with the roasted pork gravy, plain boiled (mote
- rice Ecuadorian style
- plantains fried, ripe
- onion in curtido salsa
- tomato in curtido salsa
- agrio sauce
- aji criollo hot sauce
- avocado slices
- lettuce or salad
Instructions
- Make sure the pork leg is clean and place it in a large non-reactive roasting pan (make sure it will fit in the fridge as well as the oven). You can also use a large turkey marinating bag to marinate it in.
- Rub or drizzle the lime juice all over the pork leg,
- To prepare the “aliño” marinade you can mix the crushed garlic, ground cumin, salt and pepper directly in a bowl. If you want the extra rich red color, you can also add a tablespoon of achiote or annato powder to the mix. An easier option is to blend the whole garlic cloves with the onion/shallot, the spices, and a cup of beer.
- For extra flavor in the meat itself, make several deep incisions on the meaty parts of pork leg and begin stuffing the incisions with the “aliño” or blended marinade mix. You can also score or cut into the skin, either simple vertical or horizontal lines or a cross hatch patter, if you want it to have that look, or if you prefer you can keep the skin completely intact - either option will work for this roasted pork hornado.
- Pour the liquids (mix of beer, cider, and/or orange juice) over the pork leg.
- Let the pork leg marinate and rest for 24-72 hours in the fridge. You can turn the leg around as need (or use the marinating bag to help concentrate the marinade all around the leg).
- Pre-heat oven to 400F (200C).
- In the meantime, in a small saucepan, melt a stick of butter on low heat, stir in the 1 tablespoon of the ground achiote and mix well. You can also add a bit of salt if desired (or if using unsalted butter).
- If using a marinating bag, remove the pork from the bag and place it in - skin side up - a large roasting pan, with the marinating juices. Use paper towels to dry off the skin side up and any part of the skin that isn't in the liquid.
- Drizzle and brush the melted achiote butter mix all over the dry pork skin. Keep any remaining butter mix to use to baste the pork skin during baking - and melt the additional stick of butter with achiote as needed.
- Bake the pork leg - skin side up and uncovered - at 400 F (200C) for about 30 minutes.
- Lower the oven temperature to 325F and bake for 3 hours. If the pan juices start to dry up, heat additional beer until warm with a bit of the achiote butter and add it to the pan. You can also brush and baste the pork skin directly with the achiote butter mix every hour or as needed. Rotate the baking pan as needed to keep the pork cooking evenly. If the skin starts to brown too much then cover it with foil -without pressing the foil directly on the pork skin.
- If you have space in the roasting pan and want to cook the potatoes with the pork leg, add them at this time. If the potatoes are large or medium, it's best to cut them in half to make the sure they will be fully cooked. Another option is to use fingerling or baby potatoes, they take up less space and will cook better.
- Continue baking the pork leg at 325F for another ~3.5 to 4 hours. The internal temperature of the pork leg should be 145F minimum - and it generally takes 15-20 minutes per pound of pork. If you covered the pork leg with foil remove it during the last 20-30 minutes to allow the skin to get crispy. You can also sprinkle some cold water on the skin and then put the oven on broil for the last 5 minutes (optional).
- Serve with your choice of side dishes including the potatoes baked with the pork leg, mote or hominy corn, agrio sauce, curtido de cebolla y tomate, avocado slices, lettuce, and aji hot sauce. Other popular side dishes for hornado include rice, boiled yuca or cassava, habas or fava beans, and llapingacho potato patties - you can even make the llapiganchos using the potaoes that were baked with the pork leg.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.7
726 reviews
Excellent
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