Cochinita pibil recipe

Pork chunks rubbed with achiote and sour orange, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked for hours until they shred into their own red juices.

16 hours and 30 minutesmedium12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 100 g achiote paste
• 1500 g pork shoulder
• 250 ml sour orange juice
• 5 banana leaves
• 6 clove garlic
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 2 red onion
• 2 habanero chili
• 12 corn tortillas
• 1 tbsp salt

How to make Cochinita pibil

1. Blend 100 g achiote paste with 250 ml sour orange juice (or 250 ml orange juice plus 250 ml lime juice), 6 garlic cloves, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp crushed peppercorns and 1 tbsp salt.
2. Cut 1.5 kg pork shoulder into 5 cm chunks rather than leaving it whole, coat every piece with the adobo and marinate 12 hours in the fridge, 4 hours at the very least.
3. Pass the banana leaves over a flame for a few seconds until they turn glossy and flexible; unheated leaves crack when you fold them.
4. Line a deep dish with the leaves, pile in the pork with all its marinade, fold the leaves over the top and seal tightly with a lid or foil.
5. Traditionally this cooks buried in a píib, a stone-lined earth oven, overnight; that smoke cannot be reproduced in a kitchen. In a home oven, cook at 160 °C for 3.5 to 4 hours.
6. Meanwhile slice 2 red onions thinly, scald them 30 seconds in boiling water, drain and steep them in sour orange juice with salt and a pinch of oregano: this pickle goes on every serving.
7. Shred the pork inside the leaves and stir it back into its own red juices; it should stay wet, never dry.
8. Serve on warm corn tortillas with the pickled onion and a habanero salsa.

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