One Of Florida's Best Spots For A Cuban Sandwich Is Known For Its Made-In-House Ingredients

More people of Cuban heritage live in Florida's Miami-Dade County than anywhere else other than the island nation itself, and its biggest city is naturally a hotbed for great Cuban sandwiches. Among the many places in Miami that serve the iconic dish, one of the best has been selling it to customers who line up outside the small shop on Little Havana's famous Calle Ocho (Eighth Street) for nearly a decade. Sanguich De Miami makes most of the ingredients itself for its premium version, and is a four-time winner of Michelin's Bib Gourmand award for quality and value.

The sandwich, also known as a "Cubano," is classically made with ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles on Cuban bread. (Genoa salami is included in Tampa, where the sandwich is also a staple.) Sanguich De Miami uses Ammerländer Swiss cheese from Germany, and has the bread baked using its own recipe. Everything else is produced in-house from scratch, including the pickles and mustard.

The ham and roast pork are made from Duroc pigs, whose meat is more flavorful and remains juicier due to the breed's greater fat marbling. Sanguich De Miami cures the ham by injecting brine with garlic and spices into a boneless pork butt and soaking it in the same liquid for a week, and it marinates the same type of boneless cut for one or two days for the roasted meat (per Insider Food via YouTube). A mojo is used for the marinade, which is traditionally made of sour orange juice, garlic, oil, and spices. Once the Cubanos are assembled, rendered pork fat is swiped on top of the bread before the sandwich is pressed, producing a crunchy, crisp crust and melted cheese. 

Miami natives Daniel Figueredo and Rosa Romero opened Sanguich De Miami in 2018, one year after they began operating an earlier incarnation out of a shipping container. A main goal the married couple had for the business was to develop a high-quality Cuban sandwich. Because of their success, Sanguich De Miami's Cubano is now considered among the best, if not the best, in the city, and they've expanded to four more locations in the area.

Among the six other sandwiches on the menu, two are versions of the Cubano. The Media Noche has the same ingredients on softer, sweeter media noche bread that's comparable to brioche. Its name, which means "midnight," comes from it first being a snack Cubans would eat after a night out. The Croqueta Preparada boosts the classic with two ham croquettes, which are also available as an appetizer/side. The other sandwiches are made with shredded roast pork (lechón) and a garlic aioli, thinly-sliced beef and frites, and house-made turkey.

Other appetizers include chicharrónes (fried pork rinds) and Cuban Nachos (strips of plantains – bananas' less-sweet cousin – topped with lechón, pickled onions, and garlic aioli). There are also several milkshakes, called "batidos," in tropical fruit flavors like mango, banana, mamey, and Sanguich De Miami's official Timba batido with guava and cream cheese.