Cochinita Pibil
- Total Time
- 4 hours, plus marinating time
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 1pork shoulder, 3 to 4 pounds
- 4tablespoons salt
- 4 to 6garlic cloves, peeled
- 1tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1teaspoon whole allspice
- 1tablespoon red-chile powder
- ½teaspoon whole cloves
- ½teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1tablespoon Mexican oregano
- 4tablespoons achiote-seed paste
- 1orange, zested and juiced
- 1grapefruit, zested and juiced
- 1lime, juiced
- 2banana leaves, wiped clean
- ½white onion, thinly sliced
- 1red onion, chopped
- 1teaspoon salt
- 1habanero, seeded and finely chopped
- Corn tortillas
- Lime, optional
For the Pork
For Serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Score the fat of the pork, evenly salt the meat and set it aside while you make the marinade. In a dry saucepan over medium heat, toast the garlic cloves until they’re charred all over, then remove. In the same pan, add cumin, peppercorns, allspice, red-chile powder, cloves and cinnamon. Toast until you can really smell the cumin and pepper. Grind spices, and mix in a food processor until smooth with the oregano, charred garlic, achiote paste, all the citrus zest and about half the juice.
- Step 2
Place two overlapping banana leaves on your work surface, and put the pork at the center. Rub the spice paste all over the meat, arrange the sliced white onion on top and roll the whole thing up, folding the sides like wrapping paper. (If it unravels, tie it closed with some kitchen twine.) Set the parcel in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight.
- Step 3
Heat oven to 300. Put the parcel on a rack, or a ring of scrunched-up aluminum foil, inside a heavy pot with a half cup of water at the bottom. Bake with the lid on until the meat is very tender and yields easily to a fork, about 4 hours. Meanwhile, mix the chopped red onion with remaining citrus juices, salt and habanero, and set aside.
- Step 4
While the meat is still warm, carefully transfer the parcel to a serving dish. Use a fork to shred the meat, spoon over the cooking juices and mix well. Serve with pickled onions, warmed tortillas and halved limes.
Private Notes
Comments
I have lived in Mexico City for over 40 years, and developed my own version of Cochinita Pibil. Tip #1: use a crockpot overnight. The flavors really penetrate the meat and it is very juicy and delicious. Tip #2: When you do find banana leaf, buy lots! It freezes perfectly! Tip #3: Put equal parts of plain orange juice (fresh if possible) and plain vinegar in the blender, add achiote paste (already fully condimented and seasoned). Pour over smaller chunks of meat in banana leaf-lined crockpot.
Where can you get banana leaves in upstate NY? And failing that, could I use parchment paper instead?
Before wrapping the meat in the banana leaves, you must heat the banana leaves, either over a gas flame or under the broiler, until they soften. You can do this gently, just until the leaves are flexible. Otherwise, the leaves will crack when you fold them around the meat. Also, if there is a center vein on the leaves, trim that away, either with scissors or a knife. The vein is difficult to fold.
I prepared the food as per the recipe, but cooked in a sous vide at 165 degrees for 24 hours. Came home after a busy day and served the family dinner in less than 20 minutes.
It is hard to find banana leaves where I live, parchment paper worked just as well.
Good flavor but 2 stars since this is NOT cochinita pibil traditional - I don't mind a new take at all but i was looking to make a traditional style and this was definitely not it. Beyond the cooking in pit, standard cochinita does not have chili powder but I went with it instead of following my MIL's recipe & came out with what my Mexican family called Chile Colorada. I suspect confusion is in making your own achiote w/spices vs. using pre-made achiote and the author muddled the 2.