Guy Devours Roast Pork at Cuban Family-Style Restaurant | Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives | Food Network

0:00 So, here we are on the set of Triple D, the movie.

0:03 Actually, no, I'm just kidding.

0:04 This is Los Angeles and you'll see this everywhere,

0:06 but we are here in Glendale, California,

0:08 where a few months ago I was sitting in that intersection right there when

0:12 these flavors from this restaurant started to flow into the car and I said,

0:15 "Wait a second, that's Cuban food." So, I pulled around into the parking lot,

0:19 ran in, grabbed a Cuban sandwich and I said, "Mambo's, oh,

0:22 I got to bring Triple D here." You got the Cubans ready?

0:25 Cuban sandwich.

0:26 Better than anything I've had.

0:27 [music] Pork is excellent.

0:28 It's really tender and juicy.

0:29 Any body tell?

0:31 Fried steak.

0:31 It's my favorite dish as a child.

0:33 I'm Cuban.

0:34 The kids love it.

0:35 They love rice and beans.

0:36 No matter what you have, he has a specific Cuban taste.

0:39 We going to the real Cuban [music] food.

0:42 Ricardo Navarro The kind Raul Gonzalez and his family were making back in Cuba.

0:46 Mambo chicken.

0:47 My wife, Mima, she's the one to show me how to cook.

0:51 And she's the one who helped him open this joint 21 years ago.

0:55 What item on the menu do you think you do the best?

0:58 The pork.

0:59 Roasted pork?

0:59 Roasted pork.

1:00 Not fried?

1:01 Not fried.

1:02 And they're doing it three ways.

1:03 A basic sandwich It's fresh.

1:05 It's very natural.

1:06 A traditional Cuban with ham, Swiss, mustard, and pickles.

1:09 those tastes together.

1:10 Or a whole dinner.

1:11 Roasted pork with black [music] beans, plantains, and rice.

1:14 Yeah, I mean, it's it's perfect.

1:17 Holy That is huge.

1:20 Like a 25-lb [music] Do we season it?

1:23 No.

1:23 No seasoning?

1:24 No.

1:25 We just stick it in there?

1:25 I don't wait.

1:26 Yes, [music] the way it is, the meat,

1:28 the pork, it's so rich that it don't need anything.

1:31 Cuz it's got its own fat, you got the bone,

1:32 and that's where a lot of the flavor comes from.

1:34 Okay, in the oven, 350 for how long?

1:36 8 hours.

1:36 8 hours.

1:38 What are we going to work on now?

1:39 We got to make the mojo.

1:40 This is kind of like a Carolina barbecue sauce, really thin, but boy,

1:44 does it complement the sweet, [music] buttery, fat flavor of the pork.

1:48 Oh.

1:49 First, garlic, salt, little pepper, lemon, wine, and we blend it.

1:56 And that's it?

1:57 Yep.

1:57 When I was sitting out there at the traffic light, that's what I smelled.

2:01 Take a whiff.

2:02 Was the PORK READY?

2:03 YEAH.

2:04 WOW.

2:04 NOW, THERE WAS NO LIQUID IN that at all.

2:07 Look how much moisture and fat renders down.

2:10 Now, we take the meat out of here.

2:12 Now, this could be crafted into some type of a 1920s football helmet.

2:17 That's thick as my head.

2:20 So, now you shred this up.

2:21 We're making the plate of roast pork.

2:23 So, we put a little crisp on both sides.

2:25 Yes, on the mojo.

2:26 And that just cooks on top of that.

2:28 Right.

2:28 We turn it over.

2:29 Little more mojo, little more.

2:31 Now, we got to put the white rice, plantains, [music] the meat, and the beans.

2:36 And that's how it comes.

2:37 I grab a little bit of the pork.

2:39 Do I look like I know what I'm doing?

2:42 Yeah.

2:41 Yeah.

2:42 I love the second cook from the pork.

2:44 You know, you get yourself a little bit of crust.

2:46 You like the mojo?

2:46 I love the mojo.

2:47 Really brings out the flavor and it complements the pork.

2:50 Little bit of a sharp bite from the wine and the garlic.

2:52 I just had a mojo moment.

2:54 You fresh roast the pork here,

2:55 you make the beans yourself, you got to love that.

2:58 And if you went to Cuba, this is how you would find it.

3:00 That you wearing.

3:01 The pork was really good.

3:03 Excellent.

3:03 It's really delicious.

3:04 And if you want it spicy, you throw your own hot sauce on it.

3:06 Otherwise, you're good to go.

3:08 Great.

3:08 Beans for the pork?

3:09 This is the only place I come to eat the rice and beans.

3:12 If my mother saw this, she'd kill me because I

3:14 never used to eat rice and beans as a child.

3:16 Plantains that they include are awesome.

3:18 This is very authentic.

3:19 I come here because it's like coming to my grandmother's house.

3:24 So, I'm here in Fairbanks, Alaska and folks,

3:25 I have come to expect the unexpected when I come to this town.

3:28 You never know what you're going to get.

3:30 You get folks from all different walks of life,

3:32 which means you get all different types of cuisine.

3:33 So, when I hear there's a jazz joint that has a real deal Cuban

3:37 chef that's cooking in a tiny little

3:39 kitchen that looks like you're in somebody's apartment,

3:41 well, that says Triple D all over it.

3:42 This is Jazz Bistro on Fourth.

3:45 Hey, churrasco, order up.

3:46 The churrasco actually reminds me a lot of carne asada with the lemon juice,

3:50 parsley, and tomatoes.

3:52 That's a really rich and yummy dish.

3:54 We're chanting.

3:55 We're standing in the lounge.

3:56 We going to do a sofrito.

3:58 We start with cilantro and parsley,

4:01 fresh tomato, salt and pepper, fresh oregano, paprika.

4:04 Mixed peppers again?

4:05 Yes, sir.

4:06 Onions, [music] cumin, jalapenos.

4:09 This I don't I've never seen that many jalapenos in a Cuban dish.

4:12 We won't put them all in.

4:13 Bell peppers, water, red wine, vinegar.

4:17 Heat it up in the pan.

4:18 Next up.

4:19 We going to make a Ricoson sauce.

4:21 You named the sauce after yourself.

4:22 It actually is the name of my band, too.

4:24 Son means music, mambo.

4:26 Why every time he talks, it makes it cool?

4:29 Your car has a flat tire.

4:30 The toilet is backed up.

4:33 [laughter] We start with the peppers, carrots, yellow bell peppers,

4:38 onions, red bell peppers, and again, the jalapenos.

4:42 Ricoson is going [music] local.

4:45 We got some lemon lime juice, tomato juice, salt and pepper, and some oregano.

4:49 Cilantro again, water, olive oil.

4:52 Ricoson pushing the blender, baby.

4:54 Ricoson [laughter] pushes Ricoson PUSHES THE BLENDER.

4:59 YEAH.

5:01 WHAT DO WE GOT?

5:02 LONDON BROIL.

5:03 OKAY.

5:03 We're going to slice up about a quarter inch.

5:05 Add some olive oil.

5:06 Get that really hot before we put the steak.

5:13 Green olives, onions, garlic.

5:18 We add the meat.

5:19 I tell you, I always put out my pan fires.

5:21 Ricoson style.

5:23 Ricoson salsa, vinegar.

5:25 The sofrito that we made earlier.

5:27 While that's cooking, we're going to make the chimichurri.

5:29 Cilantro, parsley mix, fresh onions,

5:32 salt and pepper, paprika and achiote, cilantro.

5:35 Cilantro.

5:36 Tomato, little olive oil, and some lemon lime.

5:38 [music] So, we're going to plate the churrasco.

5:40 Chimichurri.

5:41 Let me Rico it.

5:43 Mambo, baby, mambo.

5:45 Mambo.

5:47 I want to just jump right into the rice

5:48 and beans cuz I know how fantastic [music] they are,

5:51 but I got to go right over here to this.

5:56 It's actually dangerous to think of you with a real big kitchen.

5:59 Then I don't know what would happen.

6:01 Because if this much flavor is coming out of this little kitchen,

6:05 you're like the culinary Tony Montana right now, dude.

6:07 Well, one taste, one love, one Rico.

6:13 Flavors are dynamite, energy is amazing.

6:16 This is pushing it over the top.

6:18 Churrasco for you.

6:20 The meat is just so tender and so nicely cooked, it just melts in your mouth.

6:24 The salsa put over it coincided with the meat, all works together.

6:28 With the love in the cooking.

6:29 This place deserves billboard in the airport.

6:32 [laughter] One taste, one love, one Rico.

6:35 Don't forget them, man.

6:37 I'll take this to go.

6:39 [laughter]

6:40 So, I'm here in South Miami on Sunset Drive.

6:43 I mean, it has been years since I was here last.

6:45 I think it was 2008.

6:47 I was at Scully's.

6:48 I mean, just a couple hundred yards that way.

6:50 Well, I hear there's a new game in town you got to check

6:52 out where they're doing [music] burgers and tacos LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.

6:55 THIS is Latin House.

7:00 Yellowtail up.

7:02 Talk about Latin fusion, this is where it's at.

7:04 You're my little burger.

7:05 Thank you.

7:06 It's a great restaurant.

7:07 One that Cuban born chef, Michelle Sanchez,

7:10 opened in 2012 after some truly dedicated service.

7:14 I was in the Air Force for 4 years.

7:15 Thank you for serving our country.

7:17 Thank you very much.

7:18 And he's still serving.

7:20 This time, a mix of Latin cultures close to his heart.

7:23 Steak and nacho carne asada.

7:25 My wife is Mexican and so a lot of our dishes

7:27 are that Cuban heart with the little sidekick of Mexican flair.

7:31 The chimiburrito, that is my favorite.

7:34 It's kind of a mix between a Cuban and a Mexican burrito.

7:37 We're going to do our vaca frita for our chimichanga.

7:39 Vaca frita.

7:39 Vaca frita.

7:40 We're going to start off with our chopped onions.

7:43 So, we got the green peppers, whole garlics, and then our bay leaf.

7:48 This is USDA choice flank steak.

7:50 Just going to cook it down.

7:52 While that's working, we're going to make the mojo.

7:53 Correct.

7:54 Um classic mojo marinade, sliced onions, naranja agria.

7:58 Come on, sour orange, baby.

8:02 Chopped garlic, a little bit of salt.

8:04 [music] We're just going to let this kind of marry together.

8:08 So, this is the vaca frita.

8:11 This is the flank steak that's cooked Yeah, just a [music] test.

8:16 So, what we do is shred it by hand in the ropa vieja style.

8:19 Exactly.

8:19 And removing all the little connective tissue that you have.

8:23 Once it's all shredded, we'll go ahead and take our our mojo,

8:26 pour it over the top.

8:30 All right, let's do this.

8:34 Exact translation of vaca frita.

8:35 Fried cow.

8:36 So, you got to get it nice and crisp.

8:37 While that's going, we'll take the tortilla,

8:39 throw it on the flat top, give it a nice little warm up.

8:43 That's it.

8:43 Voilà.

8:44 All right, so we got our three cheese blend.

8:45 You want to start on the base.

8:48 Chuchi rice.

8:49 Isn't that your mom's name?

8:50 That's my mom's nickname, it's Chuchi.

8:52 Put the sweet plantains directly inside the burrito.

8:53 [music] Then we take the vaca, we roll, squeeze the ends, roll again, push in.

9:01 Always make sure you push it in cuz it will blow up

9:03 on you when it goes get gets [music] dropped for the flash fry.

9:05 Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

9:06 You're going to fry it?

9:08 I'm going to drop it.

9:08 Cool.

9:12 Oh, the chimifootball.

9:14 There you go.

9:15 We're going to slice it open.

9:18 We got all that goodness inside.

9:19 Look at that.

9:21 The avocado lime, the crema Mexicana, sour cream.

9:26 We use these as our fries.

9:27 We call it our tangled love.

9:28 Our fresh pico de gallo, the chimiburrito.

9:31 And don't do the knife thing.

9:33 Do it the right way.

9:35 Like that.

9:39 [laughter] You get the salty beef and this deep, rich beef flavor.

9:43 And then you get that super seasoned rice.

9:45 And then all of a sudden, that fried sweet plantain comes in.

9:48 I mean, wow, that is a Thanksgiving in a burrito.

9:51 Just Cuban style with Mexican influence.

9:54 With french fries on top.

9:57 [laughter] Chimichurri though.

10:01 The meat is so tender and so full of flavor.

10:04 The kicker, the maduros,

10:06 the plantains [music] when you take a bite

10:07 of that, it's like it explodes in your mouth.

10:10 One of the things we say on Triple D is slow down, take a look around.

10:14 Another thing we should say is don't judge a book by its cover.

10:17 Like this joint here in Merrick,

10:19 New York on Long Island, about 35 minutes outside of Manhattan.

10:22 May look like a fast food burger joint, but from what I hear,

10:26 the menu INSIDE'S ALL ABOUT REAL DEAL AND HOMEMADE.

10:29 Welcome to the Pitstop.

10:30 Thanks to Nini in the window.

10:32 High end food at a fast food price.

10:33 Teriyaki [music] salmon salad ready to go.

10:36 Amazing Asian flavors.

10:37 Dribble down your chin, yum.

10:38 Eggplant rollatini.

10:39 Really good Italian food.

10:40 All from high end Italian chef [music] Tony Rubino.

10:43 Little fresh mozzarella.

10:45 Where did you get your background in food

10:46 growing up in an Italian house in Brooklyn?

10:48 Then working joints all across [music] Manhattan.

10:50 Steak houses, lobster houses.

10:52 Before bringing his own scratch made menu.

10:54 Spaghetti squash working the Long Island.

10:56 Everything's made to order.

10:57 From pasta, penne vodka, to salads.

10:59 Grilled shrimp and scallop salad.

11:01 And serious sandwiches.

11:03 Picking up a Cuban sandwich.

11:04 Really, really good.

11:06 All right, what are we making, brother?

11:07 We're going to make a little pork shoulder,

11:08 sear it off for a hot Cuban sandwich.

11:09 Okay.

11:10 Get it nice and crispy and then oil the top of the pork,

11:13 salt and then a little pepper.

11:14 So you got fat skinned pork bone.

11:17 Yeah, so we're going to sear this on as many sides as [music] we can.

11:20 Okay.

11:20 Maybe 15, 20 minutes.

11:22 Porkapock.

11:22 Get a friend, buy yourself a tank.

11:25 Organic blessing.

11:26 Oh, and now we're going to get it into the stock pot.

11:28 All right, do the voodoo that you do.

11:30 Little oil in a heated pot,

11:31 chopped onions will pop in there and then chopped celery.

11:33 Okay.

11:34 Chopped carrots to finish up here and we'll let

11:36 these cook down for about 10 or 15 minutes.

11:38 I'm going to go a little chicken stock.

11:39 You make your own chicken stock?

11:40 Make our own chicken stock.

11:41 Make everything from scratch?

11:42 Make everything [music] from scratch.

11:45 Seriously?

11:45 Where?

11:45 And then the crushed tomatoes.

11:46 I'm going to scoop this off the grill and pop them right into the stock pot.

11:49 How many of those do you make a week?

11:51 About a half a dozen to eight.

11:52 Really?

11:53 Oh, sure, sure, sure.

11:53 What are you going to do with the sauce?

11:54 Sauce is done.

11:55 Now it's boiled for an hour.

11:56 Now we're going to put the pork shoulder and stock

11:58 [music] in the oven for six to seven hours.

12:00 Now we're going to take it out of the oven.

12:02 Okay.

12:02 Let it cool that you can touch it.

12:03 Bone wants to come out.

12:04 Then we just [music] start to break it down.

12:06 That's what you're looking for.

12:07 Nice big strands.

12:08 No need to do it, you'll have to do it.

12:10 Fear.

12:12 And [music] you would like that.

12:13 So we're going to take this shredded pork,

12:15 we're going to pop it on the flat top griddle, crisp it up a little bit.

12:18 it.

12:18 So we're going to grab this panini, we're going to cut them in half.

12:20 We're going to top this with a little homemade honey mustard

12:22 and then fill the sandwich with some fire roasted [music] peppers.

12:25 You roast those yourself?

12:26 We roast these.

12:27 Of course you do.

12:28 Pickles.

12:28 We're going to grab my pork, nice long shreds in there.

12:31 How big is this sandwich?

12:32 It's huge.

12:33 Going to put some turkey.

12:34 I've never seen turkey on a Cuban.

12:35 Which which Cubans have you been hanging out with?

12:37 Um, I don't know.

12:39 Put some Virginia ham.

12:40 It's really this big?

12:41 Every day.

12:42 Everything we do [music] is big.

12:44 The Big Apple.

12:46 Then we got some Swiss.

12:47 If you put anything else on it besides the bread top, I'm leaving.

12:49 I think we're good.

12:50 We're going to pop it in the panini press.

12:52 Okay.

12:52 How long is this going to stay in there?

12:53 About five minutes.

12:54 Let's open her up, pull it out,

12:55 we'll give it a cut and then we'll pop it on the plate here.

12:58 Home with a six pound sandwich.

13:00 Come on down to Pitstop.

13:02 Mhm.

13:03 Pork's dynamite.

13:04 The honey Dijon rocks.

13:06 Love anything that's got red bell pepper in it.

13:08 Good vinegar from the pickle,

13:09 but the big calculation that makes us all tie together.

13:13 The bread in the panini [music] maker, that's really the kicker here.

13:15 I mean that is nice, crunchy.

13:18 I mean it's done right, [music] everything's melted in the center of it.

13:21 I might recommend you have a good dental plan.

13:25 You know, I [music] love Cuban food.

13:27 I mean we're talking the tradition, we're talking the flavor.

13:30 The only problem IS YOU CAN'T FIND it everywhere.

13:33 So here I am in the Roscoe Village area,

13:35 Chicago, about 15 minutes north of the downtown area.

13:38 Now I hear they got a Cuban joint that's rocking it out.

13:41 They're rocking it out, I'm checking it out.

13:43 This is 90 Miles Cuban [music] Cafe.

13:48 Oxtail.

13:49 Great, great food.

13:51 Fricasé de pollo, you just feel like [music] you're in Cuba,

13:54 you feel the authenticness.

13:56 And you don't get any more authentic than Alberto Gonzalez.

14:00 Cuba in 1980 in the Mariel boatlift.

14:02 Left your house, left everything?

14:03 Exactly.

14:05 Everything except the love of the food he grew up with.

14:08 28 years later, he decided to do something about it.

14:12 in the mortgage business.

14:12 My wife and I, we were looking for our next venture.

14:15 In 2008, they went out on a limb, way out.

14:18 Have you ever been to the restaurant business?

14:19 Ever in your life?

14:20 Never in my life.

14:21 Where did the recipes come from?

14:22 My grandmother.

14:23 Really?

14:24 What is a Cuban food?

14:25 How would you explain it to somebody?

14:26 Full flavor.

14:27 I think it's not spicy.

14:28 Not spicy, rich and full flavor.

14:30 It's a simple ingredients and it just tastes delicious.

14:32 Fricasé de pollo.

14:33 It's winner, winner, chicken dinner, Cuban style.

14:37 We're making [music] a rub for our chicken.

14:39 Fricasé de pollo.

14:40 Season salt.

14:41 All of that?

14:42 All of that, my friend.

14:43 We have pepper, oregano.

14:45 Then we got the comino.

14:46 This is the basic rub.

14:49 So now we start rubbing our chicken.

14:51 Rub it all over.

14:52 That's it?

14:53 That's it.

14:54 And how are we going to cook this chicken?

14:55 We're going to sear it.

14:56 Olive oil.

14:58 Yeah, [music] sear it.

15:00 Put a little crust on it, but we're not going to cook it all the way off.

15:03 Now we add water?

15:04 We wait for it to boil.

15:05 So now we're going to start with our sofrito.

15:08 We're going to add oil.

15:09 Just wait for the oil [music] to get a little warm in here.

15:12 We add the onions, we add green pepper, red pepper.

15:15 We add a little [music] bit of olive oil here with garlic.

15:19 It's beautiful.

15:21 Stir [music] this.

15:22 Now the comino.

15:23 Just going to sweat these down,

15:24 not caramelize them and then dump that in on top of the chicken.

15:27 Exactly.

15:27 Now we're adding tomato paste.

15:29 Oregano.

15:31 Annatto.

15:33 Chicken [music] stock and we'll wait for it to cook for 45 minutes.

15:37 And then we'll come back to it.

15:38 We add our cooking wine.

15:39 Add some potatoes and olives.

15:41 Stir it all together.

15:44 [music] And then we'll cook it for 30 more minutes.

15:47 Now it's ready for serving.

15:48 [music] You look at this room.

15:49 Look at the smell.

15:50 Look at the smell.

15:50 Look at the smell.

15:51 Look at the Tony Montana hour.

15:53 I told you to tell him you are in a sanatorium.

15:56 Look how beautiful.

15:57 Right here, we add our yellow rice.

16:00 Look how beautiful it looks.

16:01 Sweet plantains.

16:02 We are ready.

16:04 [music] Oh.

16:07 Mhm.

16:07 You get the brine and the acid of the olive and then you get the chicken,

16:11 the pan drippings, that sauce that it cooks in.

16:13 Oh, outrageous.

16:15 Now if you grab a piece of sweet plantain and mix it all together.

16:19 Mhm.

16:18 Blends it up real nice.

16:20 It feels good.

16:20 The olive.

16:25 This takes the cake, man.

16:26 Olives are the key, though.

16:29 [music] That's what seals the deal.

16:29 Mhm.

16:30 That is money.