Pork baked with oranges
Pork with oranges has become a tradition during our New Year holidays. I prepare and marinate the meat before New Year, freeze it in a baking dish or roasting bag, then move it to the refrigerator the day before cooking. We like a cut with a little fat and the flavor of orange. It releases plenty of juices and fat, some of which I drain off during cooking and use to roast potatoes.
When roasting meat as a whole piece, I calculate the time as follows. For every 0.5 kg you need 20 minutes plus another 20 minutes on top. That is, a piece of pork weighing 1 kg will be ready in 1 hour 20 minutes.
If you have a culinary thermometer, you can use its readings as a guide: 85-90°C in the middle of the piece - the meat is ready.
Wash the oranges thoroughly. We remove the zest from all of them.
Peel 2 oranges and cut into circles. Squeeze the juice out of the rest.
Mix orange juice, zest, soy sauce, cinnamon and meat seasoning in one bowl. Add salt to taste, if required. I usually don't add salt.
We rinse a piece of pork, in my case the neck, in cold water and dry it with paper towels.
Make crosswise cuts through the pork, without cutting all the way through, to form connected slices.
Coat each slice with marinade and tuck orange slices between them.
Place the meat either in a heat-resistant form of a suitable size or in a baking bag. Pour the remaining marinade over the meat, making sure that the liquid gets into the cuts. To make the piece hold its shape better, I additionally tied it with twine.
Cover the pan with cling film (be sure to remove it before putting the pan in the oven). If you use a bag or baking sleeve, carefully secure it. And put it in the refrigerator for 12 hours. It could be longer.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the meat and bake for 1.5-2 hours depending on the size of the piece.
If you use a sleeve, cut the film shortly before the end of cooking to create a crust on the meat.
During the cooking process, a lot of juice and fat were rendered from the meat. I baked potatoes in it for a side dish. It turned out very tasty.
