Toro Toro's New Menu Includes a Monster-Sized Slab of Pork

At Richard Sandoval's Toro Toro, located inside the InterContinental Miami hotel, pork lovers can "go ham" on a new dish.

The restaurant just introduced a monster-sized, 32-ounce cut of porcine goodness known as the chuleta — a giant meat Mohawk of pork loin, ribs, and a strip of pork belly all in one.

"The chuleta is a unique piece of meat, " says Toro Toro executive chef Jean Delgado. "It's a traditional dish from Puerto Rico, but with my own twist to it. Bringing a dish from Puerto Rico was important to me as a chef, and as a Puerto Rican."

The kitchen prepares the massive slab of Duroc pork by marinating it in an achiote-spiked mixture for up to 24 hours. While the traditional way to cook the chuleta is deep frying, Toro Toro takes a lighter route, roasting it atop a wood-burning charcoal grill for a smoky element. It’s served with arañitas, cilantro sauce, tomatillo kimchi, Bibb lettuce, farrotto con gandules, and chorizo ($60).

The dish arrives at your table sizzling on a cast-iron platter, the server at the ready to cut and plate it. It's best enjoyed as nibs of succulent meat dabbed with cilantro and kimchi wrapped in crisp, fresh lettuce leaves.

Now in its seventh year, the Pan-Latin steakhouse has debuted 13 new dinner items woven throughout the menu's many sections. Highlights include hamachi tiradito with habanero passionfruit aguachile, sweet peppers, cilantro oil, and chile frito ($16); and charred pork belly with corn silk and chayote slaw atop a corn arepa ($14).

Large plates, especially those from the grill, include the aforementioned chuleta — a meal meant for a minimum of two guests. A specialty cocktail menu features a dozen new drinks including the Tres Palmas with Pisco 100, rhubarb liqueur, lime, mint palma, toasted pineapple, and cinnamon sugar; and the Cold Fashioned with Ron Zacapa 23, orange and chocolate bitters, and Grand Marnier served over a cold brew with a Kahlua ice cube ($14 to $18).

Toro Toro. 100 Chopin Plaza, Miami; 305-372-4710; torotoromiami.com.