It was only a matter of days, but, somehow, losing the usual week between Thanksgiving and the start of December compressed the holiday marathon into a 100-yard dash. I was winded by the time I pulled the first batch of cookies out of the oven, and now it’s time to host another feast?
After all of the gift wrapping and party hopping, there’s something wonderful about slowing down to prepare a big meal, especially when the centerpiece leaves you time to sip eggnog (or just lie down and rest).
A pork shoulder roast rivals a standing rib roast or beef tenderloin in richness, but it’s more foolproof (and costs far less). This one tastes and smells like the holidays, savory with the scent of rosemary, cozy with a caramelized crust and warming with black pepper. Even though the marinade has only four ingredients, the cut of meat and miso carry a natural complexity that becomes even more nuanced over time, so the roast wows like a restaurant dish without demanding medium-rare perfection.
But what exactly is a pork shoulder roast?
It goes by at least half a dozen names, so it helps to know where it’s from. If you imagine a pig standing on all fours, the shoulder starts at the top of its front legs and extends up behind its neck. That upper portion is confusingly sometimes known as Boston butt or, simply, butt, because preserved pork shoulders were shipped in the colonial era from Boston in barrels with the size designation “butt.” The lower part is (more obviously) labeled shoulder, shoulder roast, picnic shoulder or blade roast.
At most supermarkets, you get what you get in the meat case. If you’re lucky enough to have options, pick the part you want: This recipe works with any part of the shoulder, whether it has bone or skin, both or neither.
The well-marbled butt is often cut into a tidy rectangle with the bone in and a thick cap of fat, so much of its flavor comes from its own richness. The cut labeled shoulder usually comes in boneless triangles or trapezoids and has slightly less fat. If it’s sold already tied, unfurl it to slather the marinade all over both sides to permeate throughout, then reroll and tie it. No matter how the pork is butchered, tying it gives it the structure to end up sliceable. Otherwise, it’ll collapse like shreddable pulled pork — also tasty, but not sturdy enough to carve.
If this pork overcooks a little, it’ll still taste great, thanks in part to the miso. Because it’s primarily soybeans fermented with salt, miso both deeply seasons the meat and keeps it moist and tender. Aka (red) miso has a higher proportion of soybeans and ferments for longer than paler miso, which gives it a robustness that works well with fatty shoulder.
Time is the final ingredient. The hours the marinade fuses into the meat yield a glistening roast run through with the tingle of pepper and pine. Like its accompanying cranberry sauce, it can all be prepared ahead. However exhausted you may feel at the end of this race to the holidays, you can cross the finish line with this winning showstopper.
Miso-Marinated Pork Roast
By Genevieve Ko
This pork roast tastes and smells like the holidays, savory with the scent of rosemary, cozy with a caramelized crust and warming with black pepper. Even though the marinade has only four ingredients, the finished roast has the wow factor of a restaurant dish. The best part about this centerpiece? You can’t mess it up. And though the accompanying cranberry sauce is optional, it brings a welcome fruity tang and pop of red to the table. The sauce can be made up to a week ahead of time and the pork can be marinated the morning you plan to roast it.
Yield: 12 to 16 servings
Total time: 4 3/4 hours, plus 4 hours’ marinating
INGREDIENTS
For the roast:
1/2 cup red miso (see tip)
1/3 cup granulated or light brown sugar
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary, plus 2 sprigs
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
One 4- to 5-pound bone-in or boneless pork shoulder roast
1 large onion, cut into wedges
For the sauce (optional):
24 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries (6 cups)
1 1/3 cups light brown sugar
2 ripe but firm pears, diced
8 slices fresh ginger, smashed
Juice of 2 oranges
1 cup dry white wine, such as vinho verde
Pinch of salt
DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare the roast: Mix the miso, sugar, minced rosemary and black pepper until well combined. Unfurl the pork if it’s boneless and cut along its natural breaks to butterfly the meat without cutting all the way through. Rub the marinade all over the meat in an even layer.
2. If needed, roll the pork back into a somewhat cylindrical shape. Use kitchen twine to tie it in 1-inch intervals. Refrigerate in an airtight container for 4 to 8 hours.
3. If you’re making the sauce, bring all of the ingredients to a boil in a large pot, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium-high and continue boiling, skimming off and discarding any pink foam that rises to the surface, for 10 to 12 minutes. The liquid should be syrupy and the pears tender. The sauce can be refrigerated in jars or airtight containers for up for up 1 week. You’ll have about 6 cups.
4. Remove the pork from the refrigerator an hour before you want to start cooking (about 4 1/2 hours before you want to serve it). If the sauce has been refrigerated, let it sit at room temperature as well.
5. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Wipe off any thick patches of marinade from the pork and place on a roasting pan or sheet pan. Scatter the onion and rosemary sprigs around the meat and pour in 1/4 cup water (or wine or stock).
6. Cook for 1 hour, then baste with the pan juices. Continue cooking, basting every 30 minutes, until an instant read thermometer registers 165 degrees in the thickest part, about 2 hours longer. Tent with parchment paper when the pork is dark brown.
7. Let rest on a cutting board for at least 30 minutes. Slice and serve, with the sauce, if you’d like.
TIPS: Red miso, generally made with a higher proportion of soybeans and fermented for a longer period, is strong and savory, making it ideal for meat. If you can find only milder white or yellow miso, which is also sweeter, you can use it instead and reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup.
Pork shoulder, which comes from the upper portion of a pig’s foreleg, is usually split into the fattier top, known as Boston butt, pork butt or just butt, and the lower portion, called the picnic shoulder, blade roast or picnic roast. They all can be labeled pork shoulder and they all work in this recipe.
