Cochinita Pibil: Mayan-Style Slow-Cooked Pork

Cochinita Pibil

Ingredients:

1 package of El Yucateco Achiote Red Paste
20 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 cup of freshly-squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup of freshly-squeezed orange juice
1 boneless pork shoulder (about 6 pounds)
1 package of banana leaves, defrosted if frozen

Method:

Combine first four ingredients in blender or food processor, and blend until smooth. Cut pork into 3-inch square portions, cover with mixture, and marinate in refrigerator overnight, 12-24 hours.
Line a roasting pan with three banana leaves, allowing the edges to overlap on the bottom of the pan, and hang out over the edges. Place marinated pork on top, and cover with remaining marinade. Fold the edges of the banana leaves over the top of the pork, and place three more overlapping leaves on top. Tuck these leaves in along the edges of the pan, forming a tight seal around the pork. Finally, cover the whole tray in aluminum foil, for good measure. The goal is to have no steam escape.
Cook at 300 degrees for 3 1/2 to four hours. Carefully unwrap pork, being careful of escaping steam, and shred meat using two forks.
This dish is best when served in tacos with pickled red onions and topped with habaneros. The combination of salty, sweet, and spicy is amazing!

Pickled Red Onions

Ingredients:

2 red onions, cut in half lengthwise, with the ends removed
1 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 jalapeno, seeds removed, thinly sliced (optional, but recommended)

Method:

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, and blanch onions for 15 seconds. Drain thoroughly, and combine with remaining ingredients, stirring to coat onions thoroughly. Marinate for at least an hour before serving, though preferably overnight.

These two flavors compliment each other beautifully, but if you want to eat your Cochinita Pibil the way they do in the Yucatan, you’ll want to add some heat from habanero peppers. We’ll dial down the heat just a bit, but be warned…these peppers are spicy. And don’t forget to wear gloves when working with habanero peppers…the oils can stay on your skin for a long time.

“Mellowed” Habanero Peppers

Ingredients:

5-6 habanero peppers, de-seeded and de-veined, diced
Water
Vinegar

Method:

Place chopped habaneros in a small bowl. Add enough water to cover, and a splash of white vinegar. Marinate for at least 1 hour before serving on top of cochinita and onions.

Via Los Angeles’ February Food Bloggers, Malcolm and Jillian of “From Away“

We moved to Mexico because we were twenty-five and bored. We’d gone to New York after college like we were supposed to, and spent years going to more bars than museums and riding the subway so long late at night that it felt safe. One day we woke up oppressed, sick of the crush of bodies and nonstop pace. There were too many options and not enough space. We needed an escape hatch. With a little research we discovered a foreign coast close enough to fly to in one day and yet far from everything we wanted to forget. We’d never been to Mexico but didn’t let that stop us from selling, storing and discarding most of the junk we’d been carrying around, getting on a plane to Merida, Yucatan and setting up shop in a long-term furnished hotel/apartment after two nights booked at the Hyatt. We had $4000 to our names. It didn’t take long to love the experience but learning it we knew would take lifetimes. You have to go slow. Try to speak the language and follow the locals when they cross the street out of the sun. Find out what they eat and you find out who they are. In the cocina economicas and from Saturday morning vendor carts, Mayan-Mexican women are cooking pre-Hispanic food that is unlike anything we ever got from El Sombrero Borracho, or whatever crap Mexican places we’d been back home in the NorthEast. This recipe can be recreated pretty easily in your kitchen at home – it’s slow-roasted pork goodness that conjures images of a white-hot sun, everyday shamans and sticky plastic table clothes. If you can’t find banana leaves, a mile of aluminum foil will work.