cochinita pibil

molly steven's has done it again: she's come up with a fantastic home-cook's version of the traditional yucatan slow-roasted pork dish, cochinita pibil.

after we raved about it to the fam back in february, pv & chief bro requested we make it for easter, along with the million other things that were served (spinach lasagna, shanghai lummpia, waldorf salad, leek and goat cheese crostini, braised lamb in hoisin, filipino laing, couscous paella, lamb stuffed with mushrooms and pork, coconut pound cake, key lime pie...the list goes on).

so cavin and i picked up a 9.5 lb bone-in pork shoulder, marinated it for 18 hours in the banana leaves, and got up at the ass-crack of dawn to throw it in the oven for 5.5 hours. it was so worth it.

on easter it got its own serving tray, along with the fresh salsa i made, and the corn tortillas i heated in the oven. it's a superb dish to serve at a party or gathering, especially when you cook the shoulder whole, as we did. as we were still heating up the rest of the food, i saw that my mom had christened it by making her own little taco. she was excited and already trying to figure out how she could make it in the slow cooker (this is an interesting theory).

it's really easy to make. the hardest thing to do is to wrap the darned thing in the banana leaves. but once you get that accomplished, it's smooth sailing from there.

i don't have the recipe handy, but here are the approximate measurements of the ingredients i used. (oh, and the pictures posted here are from our first experience making the pibil, which we used a smaller pork shoulder since there was just the two of us eating it.)

cochinita pibil
5 to 9 lbs of bone-in pork shoulder (skin removed)
banana leaves (can be found in the freezer section of some asian stores)
2-3 tbsp achuete powder (this gives a red color to the pork)
3 tbsp cumin
3-4 cloves
2 tbsp oregano
1 head garlic (or more), peeled and crushed
1-4 habaneros (depending on how hot they are, and how hot you like things)
coarse salt
3 tbsp orange juice
1-2 tbsp lime juice (or grapefruit juice)
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 large le creuset pot (or any heavy lidded pot)

make a paste (i used my handy mortar & pestle) with the garlic, habaneros, and salt. once it is pasty, add the cumin, cloves, oregano, achuete powder, and more salt. keep grinding and mixing into a paste, adding the vinegar and juices.

if there is a layer of fat on the pork, score the fat until you get to the meat (don't remove the fat). rub the garlic paste all over the pork. wrap the entire thing in the banana leaves and secure it with kitchen string. (seriously, this part is annoying). put in the fridge for 12-24 hours (probably in a plastic bag).

heat oven to 300F. cross hatch chopsticks in the bottom of the heavy pot (this will elevate the pork from the bottom of the pot so it won't be sitting in liquid). put the pork in the pot, add 1-1.5 cups water to the bottom (there should be 1/2" liquid at the bottom), put on the lid, and throw it in the oven.

after 3 hours, turn the pork package over inside the pot. be careful because it will be really hot. put back in the oven for another 2.5-3.5 hours.

(warning: after the first 3 hour mark, you house will start smelling like wholesome pork goodness and you will want to start chanting pee-BIL! every few seconds.)

after about 5-6 hours, take the pot out of the oven (hot hot hot!). you won't really be able to assess how tender the pork is if you wrapped it pretty well in the banana leaves. but trust me. you've let the pork sit in the oven, undisturbed for many hours. it will be tender!


the easiest (and prettiest) way to serve it is to carefully lift the pork out of the pot, and put in on your serving platter. cut the strings off and unwrap the banana leaves. you can use the banana leaves as a liner on the platter for the pork.

once you have the entire thing unwrapped, you can use some of the liquid (mostly fat and spices that have leaked out of the package during cooking) in the bottom of the pot to drizzle over the pork.

you really only need a fork (maybe two) to remove chunks of the tender pork to make your own taco with the salsa and corn tortillas. (probably the pork has fallen off the bone).

like i said earlier, it's really a great party dish. you can throw this thing in the oven unattended (except for flipping it half way through), and then serve it on table where everyone can pick at the pork and make their own tacos.

despite the enormous selection of foods during easter, there was only a small fraction of the cochinita pibil for leftovers. that's ok. i'm just glad that everyone enjoyed it. i can always make it again. hmmmm...when is the next party???