Puerco Pibil

(Cochinita Pibil)

A wonderful slow-roasted dish of pork and spices.

Hardware

• Spice grinder
• Food processor or blender
• Disposable aluminum roasting pan
• Strong baking sheet pan

Ingredients

5	Tblsp		Ground annatto seeds
2	tsp		Cumin seed
1	Tblsp		Black pepper (whole)
8			Allspice berries (whole)
1/2	tsp		Cloves (whole)
2			Habanero peppers
8	cloves		Garlic
1/2	cup		Orange juice
1/2	cup		White vinegar
1	oz		Tequila
1	cup		Lemon juice
2	Tblsp		Kosher salt
5	lbs		Boneless pork butt or shoulder

Procedure

1. Grind the cumin seeds, black pepper, allspice berries, and cloves into a fine powder; make sure there are no unground bits. Mix in the ground annatto seeds.


2. Coarsely chop the habanero peppers and the garlic.


3. Puree the spice powder, peppers, garlic, juices, vinegar, tequila, and the salt.


4. Cut the pork into two-inch cubes; do not remove the fat.


5. In a large, heavy-duty bag, marinate the pork in the achiote paste (the stuff you just made) for at least two hours or as long as 12 hours.


6. Preheat the oven to 325F.


7. Pour the pork and the marinade into the roasting pan; seal the pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil.


8. Roast four to five hours, until the pork is so tender it falls apart when stuck with a fork.

Notes

I don’t like to use disposable pans, but this is an exception: Not only does annatto stain everything it touches, the long roasting leaves greasy orange gunk stuck to the inside of the pan. I’ve tried lining the pan with aluminum foil but that just winds up burned onto the inside of the roasting pan along with the greasy orange gunk. Use a strong baking sheet pan lined with foil (because the pibil will drip onto the sheet pan and burn) and a disposable pan that fits on the baking sheet.

If you can’t get ground annatto seeed you can use an equal amount of whole seeds. However, anatto seeds are slightly harder than the average garden pebble; use a good spice grinder and work in small batches in the spice grinder, and use your fingers to make sure there are no unground chunks. If necessary, finish off the recalcitrant bits with a mortar and pestle.

There’s a case for using cheap (usually white) tequila; I think I can make just as strong a case for using the good stuff. I happen to have some cheap white tequila, but once I use that up I will use the good stuff – if only because I can’t see keeping a bottle of cheap stuff just for cooking (and I don’t mind the expense of using a whopping one ounce of the good stuff).

You could probably substitute lime juice for the lemon juice (or use half of each).

Serve over rice with Mexican-style pickled red onions.

Notes to Myself:

Use one Hefty EZ Foil 12 lb disposable pan 13 1/4 x 9 5/8 x 2 3/4) per batch, on a baking pan for support. (Not in stock at Hannaford. Consider keeping a supply in stock.)

If cooking two batches at the same time, swap top-bottom every hour for more even cooking.

Consider increasing achiote paste by 25%, to keep meat fully submerged.

As of January 2018, pork butt from Alpine Butchers doesn’t have the good fat cap. Call four weeks before cooking to see if Tom can get untrimmed butt. If not, have him throw in a pound of good pork fat (and definitely increase the achiote paste).

Rating

Difficulty:		Very easy
Time:		About 90 minutes (prep time), plus 2 to 12 hours (to marinate the pork), plus 4 to 5 hours cooking time.
Precision:		2

Source

“Ten Minute Cooking School: Puerco Pibil,” by Robert Rodriguez (on the DVD “Once Upon a Time in Mexico.” Also available on YouTube but I’m not sure if those videos are legal so I don’t want to link to any of them (just in case).