📍 Yucatán
Cochinita pibil
Pork marinated in achiote and sour orange juice, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked until it falls apart.

- Preparation
- 40 min
- Cooking
- 210 min
- Waiting and resting
- 240 min
History
A Maya legacy traditionally cooked in a pib, an underground oven. Achiote and sour orange are the signature of the Yucatán Peninsula, and today it is served in tortas, tacos, and panuchos.
Ingredients
Preparation
- 1
Dissolve the achiote in the sour orange juice with garlic and spices.
- 2
Marinate the pork in the adobo for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- 3
Toast the banana leaves to make them pliable and line a baking dish.
- 4
Place the meat with its marinade, wrap, and cover tightly.
- 5
Bake at low heat until the meat shreds on its own.
- 6
Serve with red onion pickled in sour orange and habanero.
Cooking tips
- Bake covered at 160 °C for about 3.5 hours; add hot water if the pan dries before the marinade burns.
References to consult
References provide information about the dish, its context or a technique. Quantities in this version may differ from those in the source.
Keep exploring
More flavors from Mexico
🌮 Street food⏱ 50′Panuchos
A refried-bean-stuffed tortilla, fried and topped with cochinita or turkey, pickled onion, and avocado.
🍽️ Lunch⏱ 50′Papadzules
Hard-boiled egg tacos bathed in a pumpkin-seed sauce and seed oil, with tomato sauce.
🍽️ Lunch⏱ 60′Sopa de lima (lime soup)
An aromatic chicken or turkey broth perfumed with Yucatecan lima and topped with fried tortilla strips.
🍽️ Lunch⏱ 25′Green aguachile with cooked shrimp
An adaptation of Sinaloan aguachile with cooked shrimp, lime, serrano, cucumber and red onion.
🍽️ Lunch⏱ 30′Almejas tatemadas (fire-roasted clams)
Grilled chocolate clams: a home adaptation of the dish associated with Loreto.
🍽️ Lunch⏱ 60′Arroz a la Tumbada
A soupy tomato rice perfumed with epazote and loaded with seafood and fish from the Veracruz Sotavento.