Crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside, this homemade sandwich is up there with the best of the best. In this video, join Nicole as she shows you how to make a classic Cuban sandwich with tender meat sandwiched between two slices of toasted bread. Containing layers of Swiss cheese, shredded pork, deli ham, and a mayo-mustard mixture, this Cuban is best enjoyed with an ice-cold Mojito during the summer!
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🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Cuban sandwiches are one of the greatest inventions of all time.
00:03The crispy outside and the gooey inside.
00:06Let's make a Cuban.
00:07So we start with the pork.
00:08I'm doing a pork shoulder.
00:09But what makes it so special is the mojo marinade that it is cooked in.
00:14So we're gonna make that first.
00:15This is a really big onion, so I'm just gonna do about a quarter of it.
00:18And throw it in your food processor.
00:19You could also do this in the blender.
00:21You could also just chop it up.
00:22Lots of garlic.
00:23I'm going in with about 15 cloves.
00:26You want about a quarter cup.
00:27Don't use the stuff in the jar.
00:28I'm gonna get that kind of finely chopped first.
00:31And then to that, oranges and limes.
00:34So classically, it's made with like a sour orange.
00:37We don't have that here.
00:38But to kind of create that sour flavor, you balance it out with lime.
00:42I'm doing the juice of three oranges and three limes.
00:45At the end of the day, you want about a cup of orange juice and
00:48about a half a cup of lime juice.
00:50Remember that trick?
00:51In goes the lime.
00:52Couple heaping teaspoons of oregano.
00:55And about a tablespoon of cumin.
00:57Then two teaspoons of kosher salt and two teaspoons of pepper.
01:00Then I'm just gonna blend this up till it's nice and smooth.
01:03And that's our marinade.
01:05Voila.
01:06So far, nothing's been hard.
01:07This is where the flavor magic happens.
01:10You're gonna take your pork shoulder.
01:11And you're gonna trim off the fat because we just don't need it.
01:14Place your pork shoulder into a Dutch oven.
01:16And then you're gonna make like three to four just kind of large cuts in it.
01:20That way the marinade can kind of seep in and around the pork.
01:23That's it.
01:25Put it in your fridge overnight.
01:26And then take the whole pot and stick it in the oven.
01:29325 degrees for the first couple hours.
01:32Then turn it down to 300 for about another two hours.
01:36Let me show you.
01:37Because I did this last night.
01:40So I have one.
01:45You know that looks good.
01:46I didn't want y'all to have to wait a whole day.
01:48I've got to taste this.
01:49Had a dream about it last night.
01:56Mmm.
01:57I'm gonna take the pork out.
01:58And then I'm gonna strain out this liquid because we want some of that just in case.
02:03That's a good piece right there.
02:05So we're just gonna take it right literally off the bone.
02:08I mean the bone just comes right out.
02:11Taste that.
02:12Oh, yeah.
02:13Oh, yeah.
02:14Oh, yeah.
02:15This could make a ton of sandwiches.
02:17Okay.
02:18Once I've got it in big shreds, I'm just gonna take my knife and kind of chop it up.
02:23Just to make it easier to build the sandwich.
02:26Meal prep for the sandwich.
02:27Meal prep for your week.
02:29I'm gonna keep it in the liquid gold.
02:31Because all that citrus flavor is what we want.
02:35Whoo!
02:36Wish y'all could taste it.
02:37Hard part is over.
02:39And it wasn't hard.
02:40The other components to the perfect Cuban.
02:42Cuban bread is special.
02:44If you can't find it, you could just use like French bread or something.
02:49It's a really light loaf of bread, but the inside is still like really soft.
02:53Mustard.
02:54And I'm really gonna ruffle some feathers here in a minute.
02:56Ham from the deli.
02:58Doesn't matter what kind.
02:59Swiss cheese.
03:00And pickles.
03:02Mmm.
03:03If you didn't want to do it like party style, you just want to make a singular sandwich,
03:07you can on whatever bread you want to.
03:09Just make sure it can get crispy on the outside.
03:11So I'm gonna take my bread, just kind of cut off the ends.
03:16And I'm gonna cut it into like this size sandwich.
03:19Okay, and here's how you build.
03:20Slice your bread in half.
03:22And then I'm gonna toast the inside just a little bit to keep anything from getting soggy.
03:27Take a little butter, smear it on.
03:29Alright, and then just into your skillet, your pan's heating up, your bread is toasting.
03:34Then we build.
03:35Bread is toasty.
03:36Okay, I know a Cuban sandwich just has mustard.
03:39But Nicole's Cuban just has a little bit of mayonnaise in there.
03:42It just adds this little bit of richness to the sandwich that I think is delightful.
03:46So don't be telling me mayonnaise doesn't go on there.
03:49It goes on mine.
03:50But it's more mustard than mayonnaise, okay?
03:51So I like to go ahead and mix them together.
03:54And then spread it.
03:55So onto the bottom piece, some of our mayo mustard mixture.
03:59Alright, then I'm putting half of the cheese at this point.
04:03To that, our delicious pork.
04:05On top of that, our ham.
04:07Then the pickles.
04:08Go in this direction because it gives me an opportunity to put an extra one on there.
04:12Then the other half of the cheese.
04:15And then a little more sauce, just a light coating on the top.
04:20Before this becomes a true Cuban, it's gotta get pressed.
04:23But before I do that, let's make our cocktail.
04:28They have everything in here.
04:30I'm gonna just like that fine sugar.
04:32I also wanna see if they have the good rum.
04:34And by they, I mean the Test Kitchen's.
04:39Oh, this smells good.
04:40Let's use this.
04:41Let's make the drink.
04:42For a mojito, take some lime.
04:45You wanna kinda wash the outside because the lime goes straight into your drink.
04:47Into the bottom.
04:48And you're gonna go ahead and add in two teaspoons of sugar.
04:51And the star of the show, five mint leaves.
04:56And then you take your muddler.
04:58You could also use just the bottom of a wooden spoon.
05:00And you start making some juice.
05:03And that lime juice mixes with the sugar.
05:05You're creating just deliciousness down here.
05:08Let the sugar dissolve a bit.
05:10And that's it.
05:11We add in our rum.
05:12A good shot.
05:14Our ice.
05:18And then you top it off with some club soda.
05:21If you like your drinks a little bit sweeter, you could use something like Sprite.
05:27Yeah.
05:30If you just cannot see how refreshing that is.
05:35Oh my god, that is so good.
05:37You know why it's so good?
05:38Because I don't have them like throughout the year at all until the weather changes.
05:42And this is the perfect drink to go with the Cuban because it's so rich.
05:47But this is so refreshing.
05:49Perfect balance.
05:51All right, let's press that Sammy.
05:54Cooking cocktail.
05:55To the bottom of the sandwich, I'm gonna spread a little more butter.
06:00Straight into the skillet.
06:03Then you're gonna use another heavy skillet as your weight.
06:07If you only have one cast iron skillet, then use a different skillet for the bottom.
06:11And use your heavy one to press it down.
06:16So before we flip, you're gonna spread just a little more butter along the top.
06:21And then just flip and press one more time.
06:26They call this the crusty scrape dance.
06:38Oh, that makes me so happy.
06:43Look at that.
06:44Oh my gosh.
06:46It's got it all.
06:50Y'all, that pickle though.
06:52The cheese, the mustard.
06:54The pork, totally worth it to roast it yourself and make it just like this.
07:00I just wanna go to Key West.
07:01This sandwich is not like bread heavy.
07:03You get the best part of the bread, which is the crusty edge.
07:07It's just all about the meat, cheese, and pickles and mustard.
07:11It's so good.
07:13Match made in heaven.
07:14They know what they're doing down there.
07:16I declare this Cuban the sandwich of the year.
07:18You've gotta try it and let me know when you do.
07:21And don't forget the mojito.
07:23Cheers.
07:26This was an A plus.
07:34Okay.