Cochinita pibil is like a Mexican version of pulled pork. It originated in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. Cochinita Pibil is cooked underground, covered in banana leaves and cooked slow and low for many hours.
I grew up eating cochinita pibil quite often. It was the most popular food in my hometown when it came to parties and celebrations. So, when I started developing this recipe, it was very important to me to keep it true to the flavor I was used to. Although, I like to change things up, this was one of those foods that brings back memories with every bite. One of these memories is when I ate 10 cochinita pibil tacos at a “día del niño” party in school. The tacos were small but, I felt quite proud since I was the skinniest girl in class and the one who ate the most tacos that day 😂.
Anyway, I’ve put a lot of care in developing this recipe. I’ve tried different achiote condiments, and I have found that the best ones are the ones that come in a bar/paste presentation. I do not recommend buying achiote in powder form. The powder form is too strong and it’s difficult to balance its bitterness.
Tips
- If you can find the banana leaves, use them. Toast the banana leaves to enhance overall flavor.
- If you can’t find the banana leaves, don’t worry, you can braise the cochinita pibil and you will get a flavorful dish despite the lack of banana leaves. Braising is a wet cooking technique where a few aromatics, vegetables and meat are lightly fried/seared and then allowed to cook in liquid and covered. You can braise in the oven (recommended) or stovetop in low temperatures for a long time.
- When braising, the pork should be gently simmering in the liquid. it should never be boiling vigorously.
- Use a fatty cut of pork like pork shoulder or ribs. Cochinita pibil is one of those dishes where you can’t go healthy. Sorry, but no. It has to have a good amount of animal fat.
Cochinita Pibil
Serves 8
Marinade
3 lb of boneless Pork shoulder cut in pieces.
½ (1.74 oz/50g) achiote bar
2 tsp oregano
¾ tsp comino
2 tsp coriander
2 pinches of cinnamon
2 tsp salt
¾ tsp Pimienta
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 lime
1 Tbls orange juice
When braising:
2-3 bay leaves
banana leaves
¾ cup diced tomatoes
½ onion, chopped.
½ cup water
¼- ½ orange juice
½ tsp salt
Procedure
- Make the marinade. In a small bowl mix the achiote, oregano, comino, coriander, cinnamon, salt, pepper, minced garlic, apple cider vinegar, lime juice and orange juice.
- Cut the meat into 1 inch cubes and cover it with the marinade. Let the meat marinate for at least an hour.
- In a dutch oven or an oven resistant pot, fry half of a roughly chopped onion over low heat, add the diced tomatoes and then 1/4 to 1/2 cup of orange juice, ½ of water and ½ tsp of salt. Add the marinated meat and the bay leaves, cover it and put it in the oven. Braise for 3 hours at 300 F or in the crock pot for 8 hours.
- After 3 hours, take it out of the oven, let it rest for a little and then shred it.
- Serve in warm tortillas and habanero pickled red onions.
Do this if you got banana leaf!
If you were lucky to find banana leafs, the only difference is that you won’t need to fry anything before going into the oven (or stovetop). Basically, you just place the toasted banana leafs in your pot, add the marinated pork, the diced tomatoes, chopped onion, orange juice, the 1/2 tsp of salt, water and bay leaves and cook covered in the oven at 300 F for 3 hours. You can also do it in a slow cooker on low for 8 hours!
