“La Caja China” loosely translated from Spanish means “Chinese box.” It’s also the name of the essential cooking device used for roasting a whole pig Cuban-style. This is particularly a Christmas tradition for Florida’s Cuban-American community.
The Chinese Box was actually invented in Miami, not China, by a father and son named Guerra. They designed the Box after hearing about a Vietnamese style of roasting pork. This was the origin of the product name, “La Caja China”, a geographic stretch, but a well-made product nonetheless.
It resembles a square wheelbarrow and consists of several large parts including the wooden box, a large metal grease tray, two metal roasting grids, a charcoal container, a mesh grill, and a metal lid.
Before deciding to buy a Chinese Box, guesstimate the maximum number of people that you’d ever expect to invite to a house party. This number will determine the amount of meat that you’d need to accomodate, and the model size of the Chinese Box that you’d want. There’s a 70-lb maximum model and a 100-lb maximum model, priced respectively at about $320 and $330. A smaller model under $300 will only accommodate two pork shoulders.
Order the Chinese from the La Caja China web site. (Note: The company is still run by the Guerra family.)
Step2
The bad news: the Chinese Box comes disassembled. You’ll have to put all pieces together. The good news: assembly is fairly easy.
Step3
Find a butcher that will dress and prepare a whole hog for a roast. Place an order. Make sure that the butcher splits open the hog flat.
Pick up the pig when it’s ready.
Step4
“Mojo” is a traditional garlic and citrus-based traditional Cuban marinade. You can purchase a bottle online at the La Caja China web site or at your supermarket if you’re lucky enough to live in a neighborhood with a sizeable Cuban-American community. Or you can follow a recipe and make your own.
Marinate the pig by injecting the Mojo with a marinade syringe.
Step5
Place the split pig between the two metal grilling grids, and strap or hook the pig and the grids together. At this pre-cooking step, don’t puncture or slice the pig’s skin.
Step6
Place the drip pan on the bottom of the Box’s interior. Place the pig (skin-side-up) and the metal grilling grids on top of the drip pan inside the Box.
Step7
Place the charcoal ash pan over the pig. Place flat charcoal grid over ash pan. Add about 10 pounds of charcoal to the grid. Figure that every hour you’ll be adding another 9-10 pound batch of coals. You’ll probably be using three batches of charcoal for the entire process.
Light the first batch of coals.
Step8
After three hours of roasting, remove the lid and charcoal containers from the Caja China box with oven mitts. Reach inside and turn the pig and grilling grids over (rib-side-up). Put lid and coals back on top of the roasting pig.
Let the pig cook for another hour. It won’t hurt to keep checking on its progress every 15 minutes.
Tips & Warnings
Only use self-igniting charcoal for the first batch of coals.
La Caja China box
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