Cochinita Pibil: Right Out From Your Oven.
Hi there foodies! Good to see you around! Today we are going to show you how to cook the lovable and famous Cochinita Pibil. (We love it!)
This is one of the most iconic dishes in the Yucatan Peninsula and for sure, peoples favorite!
Cochinita Pibil is a pre-hispanic dish and was prepared during the celebration of “Hanal Pixan” -food for the souls- and that was reinvented during the Spanish colonization of Mexico.
This stew was originally made with pheasant, venison or boar meat, and cooked in the “pib”. (Mayan for ground oven) Later, during the Colony, the meat was changed to pork. But, not only the meat changed, the ground ovens were replaced little by little by steam cookers or normal ovens.
Cochinita stands for pork and Pibil means “in the Pib” So the name would literally translate to: Pork cooked in the ground oven.
Exciting no? So, no more chitty chat and let’s get started! 🙂
The following recipe is for 4 servings. If you need it for 8, just double the amounts!
What will you need:
- 1 large banana leaf
- 1/4 cup of Achiote paste / Annatto seeds paste (This is irreplaceable)
- 1 cup of bitter orange juice or 1/2 cup of orange juice mixed with 1/2 cup of grapefruit juice or white vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 pounds of boneless pork loin or pork shoulder cut in pieces
- 1/2 large red onion sliced.
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 1/4 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1/2 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano
- 1/4 cup of oil or lard
- Salt to taste
How to prepare it:
- Roast the banana leaf in your stove. The leaf will start changing color and getting shiny. Let’s be careful not to burn the leaf, we just want it to be pliable.
- Line a big casserole with a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil, or a triple layer of regular foil. (It’s important to have a good seal) Then, arrange the banana leaf overlapping to cover the whole foil and casserole. (You can also use an oven bag instead of the aluminum foil.)
- In your blender, mix the Achiote (annatto seeds) seasoning with the pepper and bitter orange juice. Add salt.
- Place the pork meat on the banana leaf and pour the Achiote mixture over and add the oil/lard to give it more flavor.
- Cover with the sliced onion and herbs and fold the ends of the banana leaf over the pork.
- Close and wrap the aluminum foil tightly. Add about 1 1/2 quarter of water to the casserole to create a steaming effect. (If you forget to put the water it still comes out great.)
- Bake 2 1/2 hours in a preheated oven at 350°F. Add more water to the casserole if needed.
- Remove the casserole from the oven and uncover the meat. The meat should be tender. If it isn’t, cover and return to the oven for another 30 minutes. 🙂
To serve, shred the meat and cover with the juice with warm tortillas and habanero sauce. Pickled red onions are a traditional garnish, and if you like them, they’re good, too. Buen Provecho!
Are you currently in Playa del Carmen or visiting here soon?
What would you like to know or learn about?
Let us know in the comments below and we’ll create articles to help ya’ll out further!
