I typically shy away from fried food, but when I saw this recipe for an overnight marinated, oven roasted pork dish that was then fried at the finish, I was intrigued. Plus I had made some pulled pork for the 4th of July and as any cook knows, you can’t just get a small amount of pork shoulder…you are nearly always contending with at least 9 pounds of meat and bone. So I divvied it up into three large chunks, and put two in the freezer for safekeeping. For this dish, I thawed pork blob #2.

Pro tip: It always takes a long time to safely thaw a large hunk of meat, so be sure to allow extra time. I was not able to find scotch peppers to include in the marinade (but if we’re being honest, I don’t think I could get near one of those) so I opted for habanero. All of the ingredients are blended together in a food processor (one of my favorite tricks) and then you toss the cubed pork in this sauce to sit overnight. To minimize dishes, I used my dutch oven from start to finish.

Another pro tip: Read your recipes carefully beforehand so you don’t make the mistake I did. While it wasn’t a big deal, I had intended to make this with the traditional coleslaw side, pikliz, which after closer examination of the recipe (after I had marinated the meat the night before) I noticed it was a pickled slaw which would require at least another 12-24 hours to get to the right funky, fermentation point. I did not have 12 hours at this point so I opted to make a simple vinegar based slaw on the side along with shishito peppers, onions, and rice. The pork was very tasty (though not as spicy as we’d anticipated) and the dinner was a kind of a hodgepodge but it all worked out in the end.

Recipe I used: https://www.today.com/recipes/haitian-pork-griot-recipe-t199998

Overall Level of Effort: 2

Skill Level: Beginner

Would Make It again? Yes, but with some modifications

Additional Notes: What modifications you might ask? I think next time I might just marinade the meat and then either slow cook it in the oven or grill it, but skip the frying step. While it was very tasty, I could have done without that extra layer of fried oil. But to each his or her own.