Trevin had the good idea of trying to make a Paseo-style sandwich with the sous vide. I like this idea because (a) Paseo sandwiches are awesome, (b) pork is awesome and (c) I like a good challenge. We came up with this idea while Paseo was closed. It has since reopened, but I still wanted the challenge.

There are lots of recipes floating out there, and most of them seem to derived from either Use Real Butter’s recipe or Culinary Mama’s recipe. So, I started from there, and made some alterations.

First alteration, I couldn’t cook the onions in with the pork. Two reasons: (1) onions need a much higher cooking temperature than pork, and (2) onions off-gas when they’re cooked, leading to a potential rapid unplanned disassembly of the bag. My solution was to let the onions “steep” in the marinate before cooking the pork in some of the marinate. I have no idea if this did anything, but it definitely made me feel better. My second idea would have been to use granulated onion, but I haven’t had a chance to experiment with that yet.

Second alteration, the onions in a Paseo sandwich are the best part (yeah, the pork is awesome, but the onions are what really make this sandwich). So, I wanted to amp up the flavor in the onions by quite a bit. I ended up putting a LOT of flavor in the onions. More than the original. I’m not mad about it though, because they ended up being really really ridiculously good tasting.

The last major alteration was making this into a sous vide recipe: what time and temperature would it take to get an almost pulled pork texture? There was some, but surprisingly less than I expected about sous-vide pork shoulder on the internet. I referenced a couple of actual paper books I own on the subject. I settled on 150ºF for 24 hours.

The end result of all these alteration? A sandwich that tasted nothing like a Paseo sandwich. BUT, it is a sandwich worthy of note, and I would probably put it on “my top 10 sandwiches of all time list”.

A little hint for making this recipe: do as much as you can on “day 1,” so when it’s time to serve the next day, it’s really easy.

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Sous Vide Paseo-Inspired Caribbean Sandwich

Trevin had the good idea of trying to make a Paseo-style sandwich with the sous vide. I like this idea because (a) Paseo sandwiches are awesome, (b) pork is awesome and (c) I like a good challenge. We came up with this idea while Paseo was closed. It has since reopened, but I still wanted the challe

Course

main course

Cuisine

latin american

Cook Time

1440 minutes

Servings

serving

Ingredients

For the marinade and onions

• 1.5 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper freshly ground
• 2 cups orange juice
• 0.25 cup lime juice
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons oregano chopped fresh
• 0.5 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 10 cloves garlic , coarsely chopped
• 2 half - inchs onions medium , in “ pole -to- pole ”, slices . - thick
• 1 bay leaves

For the mayo

• 1 garlic bulb
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2.5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lime , juice of

For the second most important part:

• 3.5 pounds pork shoulder bone -in

For the sandwiches

• 8 really good sandwich rolls (baguette or ciabatta has been reported favorably)
• 16 sprigs cilantro enough for some on each sandwich -
• Pickled jalapeños (optional)
• Guacamole (optional, but definitely recommended. Don’t use crappy guac.)

Course main course Cuisine latin american Cook Time 1440 minutes Servings serving Ingredients For the marinade and onions 1.5 tablespoons kosher salt 2 teaspoons black pepper freshly ground 2 cups orange juice 0.25 cup lime juice 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar 2 tablespoons oregano chopped fresh 0.5 cup extra-virgin olive oil 10 cloves garlic , coarsely chopped 2 half - inchs onions medium , in “ pole -to- pole ”, slices . - thick 1 bay leaves For the mayo 1 garlic bulb 1 cup mayonnaise 2.5 tablespoons olive oil 1 lime , juice of For the second most important part: 3.5 pounds pork shoulder bone -in For the sandwiches 8 really good sandwich rolls (baguette or ciabatta has been reported favorably) 16 sprigs cilantro enough for some on each sandwich - Pickled jalapeños (optional) Guacamole (optional, but definitely recommended. Don’t use crappy guac.)

Instructions

1. Whisk together salt, pepper, and next 5 ingredients (through olive oil) in a large mixing bowl. Stir in garlic, onions and bay leaves. Let steep for 1 to 3 hours. Using a ladle, remove about 0.5 cups of marinade, being careful NOT to get any onions. Vacuum seal the marinate with the pork shoulder (you may find it useful to freeze the marinate for 1 to 2 hours). Drop the bag into a 150ºF water bath, and allow to cook for 20 - 30 hours. Refrigerate the remaining onion/marinade mixture.
2. Slice the top off the garlic bulb and place it in a small ramekin or on a piece of foil that has been pulled up at the edges (to form a bowl). Drizzle the olive oil over the top and bake in the oven for thirty minutes or until the garlic is soft (I used the toaster oven). Reserve the olive oil in a small bowl. Peel the skins off the garlic cloves and mash the garlic into a paste with a fork. In the bowl with the reserved olive oil, combine the garlic with mayonnaise, and lime juice. Stir until blended.
3. About 30 minutes before service, pull the pork shoulder out and drain the liquid into a large saucepan (12”+) over medium-high heat. Add in the onion/marinade mixture to the pan. Cook until the sauce has a thick consistency and the onions are very well cooked.
4. While the onions are cooking, shred the pork. When the onions are done, combine the pork with the onion mixture.
5. To serve: toast the bread, slather a healthy serving of the mayo on, place the cilantro and optional accoutrement on the bread, then lay down a healthy helping of the pork and onion mixture. Let others revel in your glory.

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