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Cuban Mojo Sauce

A garlic and citrus sauce from Cuba, made with olive oil, garlic, sour orange or lime juice, cumin, salt, and pepper.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Lime and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,216 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Cuban Mojo Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mojo

  1. Heat olive oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat.

  2. Add garlic and cook until fragrant and lightly toasted, about 30 seconds, do not let it brown.

  3. Add sour orange juice, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stand back; sauce may sputter.

  4. Bring to a rolling boil.

  5. Taste and correct seasoning, if needed.

  6. Cool before serving.

Store and serve

  1. Mojo is best when served within a couple of hours of making, but it will keep for several days, well capped in a jar or bottle, in the refrigerator.

  2. Use with Cuban sandwiches, boiled yuca, grilled seafood and meats, fried green plantain chips, etc.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

210Calories
2 gProtein
14 gFat
22 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Sour Orange1 medium (131g)62
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Lime + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,216 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Lime + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,491 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Clove + cumintop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,306 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Orange + limetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together937 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Garlic
Its aromatic compounds bloom in warm oil, giving the sauce its pungent, savory flavor.
Sour orange juice or lime juice
Provides the acidity that gives mojo its bright, sharp character.
Olive oil
Carries the garlic and cumin flavors and gives the sauce body and a smooth mouthfeel.
Ground cumin
Adds warm, earthy aroma that rounds out the citrus and garlic.

The step that matters

Cooking the garlic. Garlic turns bitter and acrid once it browns, and it can darken quickly in hot oil. Keeping the heat moderate and cooking only until fragrant preserves its sweet, mellow aroma in the finished sauce.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, clove, lime, cumin, pepper):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Lemonfits better
  3. Mangofits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, clove, lime, cumin, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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