Pérnil al caldero is a Puerto Rican staple of succulent slow-cooked pork with shatteringly crisp skin that’s seasoned with adobo, a garlicky, oregano-spiced marinade. The name is a combination of pérnil — a pork roast, usually either the shoulder or ham — and caldero, the dish’s cooking vessel, an aluminum pot with rounded sides, a tight-fitting lid and excellent heat conduction.

Achieving the dish’s characteristic crisp skin on the outside with juicy meat inside can be a challenge. In this recipe from our cookbook “Milk Street 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year,” we found the best way to ensure this was by braising the roast on the stovetop, then removing the skin as a single piece and frying it in a skillet. Of course, a caldero is the traditional choice for preparing pérnil al caldero, but a large Dutch oven also works perfectly well.

To make the adobo, combine a handful of garlic cloves, oregano, vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper, then pound with a mortar and pestle to form a smooth paste. The paste then is rubbed all over the roast, which is wrapped in plastic and set in the refrigerator to marinate for at least four hours.

The roast is braised with more garlic and oregano; the creamy cloves are mashed with the cooking liquid and a few splashes of vinegar to create a flavorful sauce to spoon over the finished dish.