First of all, I want to thank everybody who left a message on my last post. It is very comforting to know that there are people out there that truly care about other. That has made my mourning a lot easier. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Hopefully this week I will catch up with everything that was unattended last week. So let’s get down to business. That here means food! Several months ago I blogged about a typical Mayan dish that was one of my favorites when I was growing up, chicken legs in achiote sauce. Achiote is a common sauce in the Yucatan peninsula. Many dishes are prepared with it, but the most commonly known is probably Cochinita Pibil. Cochinita (roughly translated little or baby female pig) is a slow-roasted pork dish with a strong acidic taste from bitter orange juice, usually Seville oranges. The preparation of this dish is simple. However, to obtain better results the meat must be marinated for at least 4 hours, some experts in Yucatan food recommend marinating it for 24 hours. I made this dish a couple of weeks ago with some minor changes on the preparation, but the result was a very delicious and tender Cochinita.
Cochinita Pibil
Makes 4-6 servings
Prep time 10 minutes plus 4 to 24 hours to marinate
Cooking time 2 1/2 hoursFor this recipe you will need:
- 2 1/2 lbs pork shoulder
- 1 TBSP annatto seeds
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground oregano
- 1 tsp whole allspice
- 1 chile ancho, deveined and seeded
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup fresh bitter orange juice (Seville Orange)*
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- salt and pepper
Pickled onions:
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
*You can substitute bitter orange juice with 1/2 cup sweet orange juice and the juice of one lemon.
Preparation:
- Cut pork shoulder in 1 1/2 to 2″ cubes and season.
- Dry-toast annatto seeds, allspice, cumin, oregano and chile ancho in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly until fragrant, around 2-3 minutes.
- Cool slightly and grind in a food grinder (I used my blender on high speed)
- In a large bowl whisk together spice mixture, garlic, vinegar and orange juice until well blended.
- Cover a baking dish with aluminum foil letting it hang over the sides so it can cover the pork.*
- Place pork on aluminum foil cover with the annatto sauce and mix well.
- Cover and marinate for at least 4 hours. 24 hours works best.
- Preheat oven to 250ºF (120ºC)
- Cook for 2 1/2 hours.
- Serve in tacos with pickled onions over fresh homemade corn tortillas.
Pickled onions:
- Mix red onion, vinegar, orange juice, cilantro and salt to taste and marinate for 4 hours.
About this recipe:
Print this recipe
- The original recipe calls for banana leaves instead of aluminum foil.
- The pickled onions is originally a hot sauce. You might add 1 or 2 finely chopped habaneros and 1 chopped radish.
If you are looking to impress a crowd, this is the perfect dish for it. This is authentic Mexican flavor.
¡Buen provecho!
24 Replies
Ben, glad you’re back and you’re up for a little cooking. It will help get back to your regular self and again, my sympathies.
On to the dish…the meat and deep brown sauce is quite appealing…I can see making about a dozen of these in tortillas!
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Glad to see that you are back. We missed you!
Your dish looks so good! YUM
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Good to see you back Ben!
That dish looks amazing!
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Hey amigo!! Glad you’re back! This pork dish sounds divine! It’s almost “stew like”. I can just imagine how good it was with the tortillas and pickled onions.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
We certainly missed you, Ben! This looks wonderful, as always. Again, I’m so sorry for your loss.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Good to see you back, Ben!
I’ll have to try this version of cochinita, it’s one of my favorite dishes!
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Good to have you back Ben!
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 1:21 am
Love, love, love Pibil. First time I ever made it was due to Robert Rodriguez and I haven’t stopped making it since.
I have a Carnitas recipe coming out next week. Hope it meets the standards!
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Hola Ben
. I’m really happy to see you back.
Your cochinita recipe sounds delicious!!!!
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Good to see you back Ben, and what a fantastic come-back dish!
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Good to have you back with us Ben. Looks like a delicious dish, even without the annato seeds and The Chile ancho (by the way the link does not work). Are these hot spices?
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Ben we are glad to have you back with your usual cheerful banter. This dish is a great way to start the week:D
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Welcome back Ben! This certainly would impress a crowd! Great flavors, I could just imagine the taste!
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Oh man. The pork sounds amazing…full of spicy flavor. And the pickled onion would go so well with it! I’ll have to try this sometime.
Posted on June 12th, 2008 at 3:27 am
Ben, it’s so good to see you back! I’ve missed your posts.
This looks totally fabulous! My husband would be eating out of the palm of my hand if I made this for him, hehe. Thanks!
Posted on June 12th, 2008 at 7:23 am
That looks really tasty. I will have to see if I can find some of those annatto seeds.
Posted on June 12th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Dang, read this last week and spent the weekend dreaming about it. I did okay though, found and made me a new bbq sauce, I did okay.
xo, Biggles
Posted on June 16th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Ben, so glad you’re here and hoping cooking is helping with your healing…
Great selection. We made pibil for that Mexican extravaganza we had recently — on the BBQ! This sounds really great! Marinated onions and all! YUM! And big hugs to you…
Posted on June 20th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Oh, I loved eating cochinita pibil when we visited the Yucatan last year — thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
Posted on June 28th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I too started making it after seeing Robery Rodriguez’ version and it’s fantastic.
Ivy, the annato seeds are VERY IMPORTANT, i can not stress that enough. I use a coffee grinder to grind them up into a very fine powder along with all the other spices and the smell is unbelievable. Dip your nose into a bag of annato seeds, it’s a very euphoric smell.
Robert suggests a splash of tequila, I disagree. The acidity in the tequila also works to tenderize the meat and for that reason (along with taste) I add a splash of tequila per pound (and a shot for me for good health).
I’m definitely going to try this recipe though, especially the pickled onions, never tried that with my pibil.
Posted on January 12th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
I’m salivating while starring at the pictures of this meal! I definitely have to try out!
Thanks for posting and sharing!
Posted on June 2nd, 2009 at 12:48 pm
looks fabulous…some great bold flavors in that pork
Posted on June 2nd, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Beautiful photo – I like the additions of orange juice and cilantro to the pickled onions.
Posted on June 2nd, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Everything about this dish looks amazing, the ingredients, spices and color. I found your site on tastespotting…I will most definitely give this a try! A beautiful tasty meal!
Posted on June 3rd, 2009 at 2:48 pm
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