Cuban Mojo Sauce
Mojo
This simple Cuban sauce goes well with just about everything, and I put it in sandwiches, on meats, vegetables, and it appears often in my dreams.
Ingredients
1/3 cup olive oil
8 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup sour orange juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
N.B. if you cannot find sour orange juice, combine equal parts lemon, lime, and regular orange juice.
Directions
1. Add the olive oil to a pan and set to a medium heat. Add garlic and cook until soft, but not brown (30 seconds or so).
2. Add the juice, salt, pepper, and cumin if you desire it and raise the heat to high, allowing the mixture to boil for a few minutes.
Cool before serving. It is best served immediately, but should keep for a few days if refrigerated.
Some recipes call for cilantro to be added, which is good if you are someone who likes cilantro (not everyone does) but cilantro is not a classic Cuban addition to a mojo sauce. When cilantro is used the sauce is referred to as “Mojo Verde” and appears less often in my dreams.
Tags: garlic
Cuban mojo brings back warm childhood memories of my grandma’s cooking. I think the cumin is not optional and my grandma always added a little oregano as well. If you take that mojo and marinate some chicken in it overnight, and roast in the oven for 45 mins to an hour at 375 degrees F. Yum!!
I forgot to mention my grandma would always mix up the garlic and seasonings in a mortar and pestle then stir in the warm olive oil. Better for releasing the garlic’s natural oils, and prevents possible burning of the garlic in the hot pan (burnt garlic will ruin your mojo).
OK Jenny, you got me, I’m taking out the “optional” 🙂
It is great stuff, and I’ve seen it made with many variations, oregano sounds good.
I’ve never tasted anything like this… is there something that it can be compared to for reference?
Not really, Nick. The predominant flavors are the sour orange and cumin, but it’s a great flavor enhancer.