This post is dedicated to the Perfect Noche Buena Menu. A time where families gather to celebrate Christmas Eve with all the traditional latin fixings that we all know and love.
What is Noche Buena
Essentially, Noche Buena is a Christmas Eve celebration for mostly all latin or Spanish communities. It is also celebrated in Filipino communities as well. It literally translates to “good night” in Spanish, and believe us when we say, it always is.
Don’t get us wrong, our kids love Christmas day. However there is something so beautiful and special about Noche Buena that we look forward to all year long. It’s a little less focused on gifts and more focused on bringing family and friends together. As we always say, nothing gathers friends and family like good food.
What is a Noche Buena Menu
All good latinas know that when December rolls around, a plan for lechon should be in place. We are finalizing where the lechon is going to be made and what we will be eating along with it. This is not the time to reinvent the wheel. How could we? This particular wheel, is perfect as is. So what is this traditional perfect Noche Buena Menu.
The food is always the same, with almost little to no variation. There is of course the lechon at the center of the night/table. How big is determined by the size of the party. Then there are the classic sides, Moros, Yuca with mojo criollo, and of course Cuban bread.
The Lechon
At the heart of the Perfect Noche Buena Menu is lechon (pork). It is usually an all day affair where the family has picked their pig, and it is slowly roasted in a box or Caja China. It’s a day of bonding for the family as they prepare the pork for the big celebration.
However we are of the belief that if you do not have a large party coming over, or if maybe you don’t have the space to roast a big pig- then go for the small pork shoulder (pernil). We have a Slow Roasted Pernil recipe that is relatively easy to do and always comes out perfect. It’s something that will take a little time, because roasting anything of this size takes time, but it does not take much prep or stress.
We highly recommend making our delicious Mojo Marinade for the dish, because it truly is such a delicious mojo (and the mojo you pick will make a difference). However if you are going store bought we love The Key West Mojo Marinade.
We also have an entire Pernil Mojo Pork breakdown on our YouTube channel!
Congri/Moros
This rice and black bean menu item has many names. Whether you call it Arroz Moro or Moros y Cristianos, it all comes down to the same thing, mixed rice and beans with the perfect touch of bacon.
This is a staple at any Cuban Noche Buena because it is the perfect side to absorb all the delicious mojo flavor from the pork, and it’s so something that is so cheap and easy to put together and will feed a ton of people. Latins love flavor, and love a deal evey more.
Christmas Congri is everyone’s favorite side dish. There is no other dish better assembled to accompany the pork on Noche Buena. It’s perfectly cooked rice married together with beans and just the right sprinkle of bacon fat. It’s just the right side to absorb all the delicious lechon drippings, which leaves you with a perfect bite.
Yuca
Yuca is something that will be found any traditional Noche Buena table. It is a root vegetable more commonly known as cassava or manioc. It’s a very versatile vegetable because you can fry it, boil it, mash it and no matter what it will be delicious.
The good news is that a good yuca is not hard to do. The real secret to a good yuca is just giving it the time it needs to cook through. If you can do that, and add the right amount of salt, all will be right in the world. We also strongly recommend leaving the yuca in a little bit of the cooking water it cooked in, until you are ready to serve!
The final Yuca tip is having a good Mojo Criollo to pour over it or have on the side for people to serve as desired. Mojo Criollo is different than marinade and you can find that whole breakdown HERE, but the gist is Mojo Criollo is what you want in this scenario.
The optional: Platanos or Tostones
While not necessary on a night like Noche Buena, you can never go wrong with Platanos or Tostones. They are both classic and can go with almost any meal.
Tostones are crispy doubled fried plantains. They are a little crispier and offer a good counter to all the food you are serving. Tostones are also great for dipping or piling food on top of.
Platanos are made from ripe green plantains. Think about it like this, the darker the skin, the sweeter the plantain will be. The plantains are sliced and then fried until tender in the middle and crisp on the edges.
Again there is so much other food, but f you wanted to be a little extra this is a great way to do it.
The Perfect Noche Buena Menu Always has for Dessert: The Classic Flan
There is no perfect Noche Buena Menu without dessert. The sweet tooth runs deep and it’s always good to have a little something sweet to finish up the night.
We think Flan was born for a night like this. It is a classic traditional dessert, that really balances out the rest of the meal. It’s something that you can make the night before and easy to slice and serve night of.
