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Cubano (AI-generated preview)

From Chef · 2014 · Screen-exact

Cubano

Serve when

When Carl finally presses the Cubano that reboots his life — hand it out the truck window while it's hot.

Before you start

Mojo pork roasted and sliced ahead; build and press to order — ten minutes with the press screaming hot.

Cook-along start: ~1:02

In the movie

Developed by Roy Choi, the film's culinary consultant, as the sandwich the El Jefe truck sells on screen. Favreau and Choi later demonstrate and publish the movie's Cubano and its mojo-roast pork on 'The Chef Show' (Netflix, 2019); the same mojo-pork recipe was circulated in press coverage when the film opened in 2014.

Theatrical

  • ~01:12:00 The El Jefe truck's signature sandwich — pressed to order and sold during the road trip from Miami back to Los Angeles
  • ~01:18:00 Carl teaches Percy to press cubanos on the truck's flat-top

The Cubano is the beating heart of the film's second act. After Carl walks out of the restaurant, he rebuilds himself around this sandwich — refurbishing the El Jefe food truck in Miami, learning it from his old friend, and selling cubanos across the country with his son and Martin. The pressed sandwich becomes the emblem of a chef cooking for love again instead of for a critic.

Ingredients

Method

  1. Make the mojo: whisk the olive oil with the orange and lime zest and juice, garlic, cilantro, mint, oregano, cumin, and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
  2. Reserve a few spoonfuls of mojo for later. Coat the pork shoulder in the rest, cover, and marinate in the fridge for at least a few hours — overnight is better.
  3. Roast the pork low and slow (about 300°F) until it pulls apart easily and reads 195-205°F at the center — about 4 hours for a 3-lb shoulder — basting now and then. Rest, then slice or shred it and moisten with the reserved mojo.
  4. Butter the outsides of each roll. On the inside, spread mustard and layer warm mojo pork, ham, Swiss, and pickles, then close the sandwich.
  5. Press in a hot buttered pan or a sandwich press — weight it down — until the bread is deeply toasted and crisp and the cheese has melted through, a few minutes a side.
  6. Cut on the diagonal and serve hot. On the truck they go out the window in a paper sleeve, so eat with your hands.

Beyond the recipe

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