📍 Yucatán

Cochinita pibil

· Lunch

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

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Cochinita pibil: Pork marinated in achiote and sour orange juice, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked until it falls apart.
Photo: Petrvs III · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto resized, converted to WebP and cropped for display.
⏱ 490 min🍽 6 servings📊 Intermediate🏷 Commonly associated🌱 Gluten-free🌱 Dairy-free
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

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Preparation

  1. 1

    Dissolve the achiote in the sour orange juice with garlic and spices.

  2. 2

    Marinate the pork in the adobo for at least 4 hours or overnight.

  3. 3

    Toast the banana leaves to make them pliable and line a baking dish.

  4. 4

    Place the meat with its marinade, wrap, and cover tightly.

  5. 5

    Bake at low heat until the meat shreds on its own.

  6. 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.

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