Pig Roast
Years ago I read about the Caja China box and how you could roast a whole pig in less than four hours. Totally intrigued me and so with the ease of one click, I bought the box.
For many, seeing the whole head to tail in living color is well basically gross but I could care less. And so we roasted a whole pig again on Saturday bringing together a mix of people ranging from 14 to 50. By the time the crowd left there wasn't a crumb left of anything in the house.
The pig needs to be butterflied and beheaded. I did that myself last time but this time I just asked the butcher to do the honors. You place the pig between two trays held together by four S hooks. Set it in the box, skin side down.
45 lbs of charcoal is used over the course of 3.5 hours for a 30 lb pig.
Once the pig is cooked through, you flip the pig to get the skin crispy. I lathered it up in bbq sauce and sent it back to the box.
And voila, perfectly cooked. Delicious. Really an entirely different eating experience. Thinking of doing a lamb by summers end before we pack it up.
Went for an Asian slant. Pardon the pictures as my Asian slant had tequila involved. Cole slaw.
For 45 people:
2 heads red cabbage – sliced and chopped
2 heads Napa cabbage – sliced and chopped
2 bags carrots – sliced and grated
Heat the following ingredients in a sauce pan and then let cool.
3 T. grated ginger
3 T. sesame oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
6 T. rice vinegar
3 T. sugar
3 T. lime juice
Once this mixture had cooled, I whisked mayonnaise in it (maybe 3/4 cup). The sauce was still relatively thin but the mayo help the cole slaw stick together. A little kosher salt for taste after mixing the slaw. Really good.
Red and yellow tomatoes covered with chives and a light vinaigrette; 5 T. rice wine vinegar, 2 T. sesame oil, 1 T. sugar, pinch of kosher salt. Mix together and dribbled over the tomatoes. I also sprinkled sesame seeds over the top of the tomatoes. Think 4 large tomatoes for 10 people and then you are set. That is mint in the middle. Strictly for decor.
Corn slathered with a mixture of butter, cumin, cardoman, cinnamon and a hint of lime. I grilled the corn for ease and cut each ear in half before putting them on the grill. I could never replicate this as for it was a complete work in motion being doctored as I mixed the ingredients.
Lemon mousse and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Lemon mousse recipe coming in another blog post. It is delicious!
Comments (Archived):
Gorgeous Joanne! Amanda Hesser just posted something about Caja China box too 🙂 You look very happy in your photo.
Thanks Wendy. Will check out Amandas post. She was at the roast!
I tweeted about it — and just saw this post, so tweeted about this post, too! Love the Caja China. Thanks again, Joanne, for a super fun dinner.
My pleasure. So glad you came!
The pig looks delicious! Did you apply any seasoning before cooking?
I did. You don’t have to but I rubbed it down with a mix of cumin, paprika, salt, pepper and sugar.
kosher and delicious! i love it!!
Yes. The joke of the night is the rabbi came earlier in the day to give his blessing.
The last pig roast we went to was on a spit. It was cooked by our greek friends. This one certainly looked interesting.
The Greeks know how to do it!
wow, that looks fantastic. wish i’d been there.@chasingcinnamon
Just FYI…La Caja China just released a cookbook, “La Caja China Cooking” – http://www.lacajachina.com/…
ooh. Will pick up. Thanks for the info