[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":450},["ShallowReactive",2],{"recipe:cochinita-pibil":3,"recipe:country:mexico":225},{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"pronunciation":7,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"emoji":10,"summary":11,"intro":12,"story":13,"whyThis":14,"tips":19,"substitutions":26,"variations":43,"serveWith":53,"storage":55,"faq":56,"equipment":72,"baseServings":77,"prepMinutes":78,"cookMinutes":79,"restMinutes":80,"difficulty":81,"course":82,"diet":84,"mainIngredients":86,"ingredients":91,"instructions":167,"nutrition":198,"images":206,"keywords":216,"publishedAt":223,"updatedAt":223,"authorSlug":224},"cochinita-pibil","Cochinita Pibil (Yucatán Achiote-Roasted Pork)","Cochinita pibil","koh-chee-NEE-tah pee-BEEL","mexico","Yucatán","🌮","Pork shoulder steeped in achiote and sour orange, sealed in banana leaves and roasted low until it shreds under a fork — served with sharp pink onions and raw habanero salsa.","Cochinita pibil is the great pork dish of the Yucatán Peninsula: meat rubbed with a brick-red paste of achiote seed, garlic and spices, soaked in the juice of sour Seville-type oranges, then wrapped in banana leaves and cooked slowly until it falls into wet, orange-stained threads. The taste is unlike anything in central Mexican cooking — earthy and faintly peppery from the annatto, insistently citrus-sour, savoury rather than spicy, because the heat lives on the table in a bowl of habanero salsa instead of in the pot. Piled into warm tortillas with pickled red onion, it is the Sunday-morning food of Mérida and one of the few Mexican dishes that is genuinely better made a day ahead.","Pib is the Maya word for the earth oven, and it is the oldest half of this dish's name: a pit dug in the limestone ground, lined with hot stones, loaded with wrapped meat, buried, and left for hours. Yucatecan cooks were burying seasoned meat in pibs long before pigs existed in the Americas — the technique belonged to turkey, venison and peccary first. Cochinita, \"little sow\", arrived with the Spanish, and the dish as it is eaten today is the result of that graft: a Maya cooking method and Maya seasoning applied to a European animal.\n\nThe seasoning is what keeps it unmistakably Yucatecan. Recado rojo — achiote seed ground with oregano, allspice, black pepper, cumin, cloves and garlic, bound with sour orange juice or vinegar — is one of a family of recados used across the peninsula, and it stains everything it touches an unmistakable rusty orange. The peninsula's cooking generally sits apart from the rest of Mexico: it leans on citrus and vinegar rather than dried chile paste, uses habanero rather than serrano or guajillo, and shows Caribbean, Lebanese and Spanish traces that never travelled inland. Calling cochinita pibil \"Mexican barbecue pork\" flattens all of that; calling it Tex-Mex misses by roughly two thousand kilometres.\n\nIn Mérida it is street food with a schedule. Cochinita is a morning dish, sold from stalls and market counters that open early and sell out by lunch, eaten in tacos or stuffed into tortas, always with pickled red onion and always with a bowl of chile habanero salsa that nobody warns you about twice. It also feeds celebrations: a whole pig in a real pib for a village fiesta, or on Hanal Pixán, the Yucatec Day of the Dead, when a related dish, mucbipollo, is baked in the ground for the returning dead. The home oven version below cannot reproduce the smoke of buried coals, but wrapping in banana leaves does the rest of the work — it traps steam, keeps the meat from drying, and lends the faint green-tea aroma that people recognise before they taste anything.",[15,16,17,18],"A real recado rojo built from achiote paste, whole spices and citrus, not a jar of taco seasoning with food colouring.","The sour orange problem solved honestly: an orange-lime-grapefruit blend that lands close to the real acidity.","Banana leaves are toasted first so they turn pliable and aromatic instead of cracking as you fold the parcel.","Pickled onion and habanero salsa are included, because without them the dish is only two-thirds finished.",[20,21,22,23,24,25],"Marinate overnight if you possibly can. Twelve hours is where the citrus stops sitting on the surface and starts seasoning the middle of the meat.","Buy pork shoulder with its fat cap on and cut it into fist-sized chunks rather than cubes — small pieces dry out over four hours in the oven.","Pass the banana leaves briefly over a flame or hot pan until they shift from dull to glossy green. Untoasted leaves are brittle and tear along the ribs when you fold them.","Do not add water. The pork and the marinade release plenty of liquid inside the sealed parcel, and extra water dilutes the achiote into a pale broth.","Shred the meat directly into its cooking juices and let it sit for ten minutes. Dry shredded pork on a plate is the most common way this dish gets ruined.","Start the pickled onions before the pork goes in the oven — they need at least an hour in lime juice to turn properly pink and lose their raw bite.",[27,31,35,39],{"original":28,"swap":29,"note":30},"Sour (Seville) orange juice","160 ml orange juice + 80 ml lime juice + 60 ml grapefruit juice","Yucatecan naranja agria is sharply sour with a bitter edge. This blend gets close; straight sweet orange juice does not and will make the pork taste faintly of marmalade.",{"original":32,"swap":33,"note":34},"Achiote paste (recado rojo)","3 tbsp ground annatto seed + 1 tbsp vinegar, mixed with the spices listed","Latin groceries sell achiote paste in small red bricks and it keeps for a year. Ground annatto alone gives the colour but you must supply the garlic, oregano and spice yourself.",{"original":36,"swap":37,"note":38},"Banana leaves","A tight double layer of baking parchment inside foil","You keep the moisture but lose the herbal aroma the leaves contribute. Frozen banana leaves are inexpensive at Asian and Latin markets and freeze indefinitely.",{"original":40,"swap":41,"note":42},"Pork shoulder","Jackfruit in brine, or large portobello mushrooms","A common meat-free adaptation. Young jackfruit shreds convincingly; cut the roasting time to about 45 minutes and use less liquid.",[44,47,50],{"name":45,"description":46},"Panuchos and salbutes","Instead of tacos, pile the pork onto fried masa rounds — panuchos are stuffed with black bean paste before frying, salbutes are left plain and puff up in the oil.",{"name":48,"description":49},"Torta de cochinita","Mérida's breakfast sandwich: the pork and its juices in a soft roll with a heavy layer of pickled onion, eaten standing up before nine in the morning.",{"name":51,"description":52},"Pollo pibil","The same recado and banana-leaf method with chicken thighs. It cooks in about 70 minutes and is the standard weeknight version in Yucatecan homes.",[54],"Warm corn tortillas, pickled red onion, habanero salsa and black beans cooked with epazote.","Cochinita improves on day two — refrigerate the shredded meat submerged in its juices and it keeps 4 days. Reheat gently in a covered pan with a splash of the juices or a little water; a microwave dries the edges. It freezes very well for 3 months, again stored in liquid rather than drained. The pickled onions keep two weeks refrigerated and get better for the first three days.",[57,60,63,66,69],{"question":58,"answer":59},"What does pibil mean?","Pibil comes from pib, the Maya word for an underground earth oven. Meat is seasoned, wrapped in banana leaves, and buried with hot stones to cook slowly for hours. Any dish labelled pibil refers to this method, whether it is pork, chicken or fish, even when a home cook uses a conventional oven instead of a pit.",{"question":61,"answer":62},"Do I really need banana leaves?","Not strictly — a sealed parcel of parchment inside foil will keep the meat moist and produce good results. But the leaves add a distinct grassy, tea-like aroma that most people identify as part of the dish, and they are cheap and freeze forever. If you can find them, use them.",{"question":64,"answer":65},"Is cochinita pibil spicy?","The pork itself is not. Achiote colours strongly but carries almost no heat, and the marinade is sour and savoury rather than hot. All the fire comes from the habanero salsa served alongside, which is genuinely very hot, so each person controls their own. Serve it in a separate bowl and warn anyone unfamiliar with habaneros.",{"question":67,"answer":68},"Can I make cochinita pibil in a slow cooker or pressure cooker?","Yes. Line the slow cooker with banana leaves, add the marinated pork, fold the leaves over and cook on low for 7–8 hours. In a pressure cooker, 50 minutes at high pressure with a natural release works, though the flavour is slightly less concentrated because nothing evaporates. In both cases reduce the marinade liquid by about a third since neither loses moisture.",{"question":70,"answer":71},"Why is my achiote pork orange rather than deep red?","Achiote paste varies enormously in strength between brands, and some are heavily cut with cornmeal or flour. Look for a paste where annatto is the first ingredient, use the full amount, and give the meat a long marinade — colour develops with contact time. The finished dish should be rust-orange, not scarlet; a bright red result usually means added colouring.",[73,74,75,76],"Large roasting dish or Dutch oven with a lid","Blender or mortar","Tongs","Two forks for shredding",6,30,240,720,"medium",[83],"main",[85],"dairy-free",[87,88,89,90],"pork-shoulder","achiote","orange","habanero",[92,97,102,107,111,116,120,125,129,132,135,139,141,144,148,150,152,154,157,159,162],{"ref":87,"qty":93,"unit":94,"name":95,"group":96},1.5,"kg","pork shoulder, fat cap on, in 8 cm chunks","For the pork",{"ref":88,"qty":98,"unit":99,"name":100,"group":101},100,"g","achiote paste (recado rojo)","For the marinade",{"ref":89,"qty":103,"unit":104,"name":105,"note":106,"group":101},160,"ml","sour orange juice","or the citrus blend in the substitutions",{"ref":108,"qty":109,"unit":104,"name":110,"group":101},"lime",80,"lime juice",{"ref":112,"qty":113,"unit":114,"name":115,"group":101},"apple-cider-vinegar",3,"tbsp","cider vinegar",{"ref":117,"qty":77,"unit":118,"name":119,"group":101},"garlic","clove","garlic, peeled",{"ref":121,"qty":122,"unit":123,"name":124,"group":101},"oregano",2,"tsp","Mexican oregano, toasted",{"ref":126,"qty":127,"unit":123,"name":128,"group":101},"cumin",1,"ground cumin",{"ref":130,"qty":127,"unit":123,"name":131,"group":101},"allspice","ground allspice",{"ref":133,"qty":127,"unit":123,"name":134,"group":101},"black-pepper","black peppercorns, ground",{"ref":136,"qty":137,"unit":138,"name":136,"group":101},"cloves",4,"piece",{"qty":122,"unit":123,"name":140,"group":101},"fine salt",{"qty":137,"unit":138,"name":142,"group":143},"large banana leaves, thawed if frozen","For wrapping",{"ref":145,"qty":122,"unit":138,"name":146,"group":147},"onion","red onions, sliced paper-thin","For the pickled onions",{"ref":108,"qty":149,"unit":104,"name":110,"group":147},120,{"ref":121,"qty":127,"unit":123,"name":151,"group":147},"Mexican oregano",{"qty":127,"unit":123,"name":153,"group":147},"salt",{"ref":90,"qty":137,"unit":138,"name":155,"group":156},"habanero chiles","For the habanero salsa",{"ref":108,"qty":158,"unit":104,"name":110,"group":156},60,{"ref":145,"qty":160,"unit":138,"name":161,"group":156},0.25,"white onion, finely diced",{"ref":163,"qty":164,"unit":138,"name":165,"group":166},"corn-tortillas",18,"corn tortillas, warmed","To serve",[168,171,176,179,183,187,191,195],{"title":169,"text":170},"Blend the recado","Break the achiote paste into a blender with the garlic, oregano, cumin, allspice, pepper, cloves and salt, then pour in the sour orange juice, lime juice and vinegar. Blend for a full minute until you have a smooth, loose, deep rust-red marinade with no grit left from the spices.",{"title":172,"text":173,"timerSeconds":174,"tip":175},"Marinate overnight","Put {qty:pork-shoulder} of pork chunks in a bowl or bag, pour the marinade over and work it into every surface with your hands until the meat is uniformly stained orange. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, turning once if you remember.",43200,"Wear gloves or accept orange fingertips for a day — achiote is a dye and it is doing its job.",{"title":177,"text":178},"Soften the banana leaves","Wipe the leaves and pass each one over a gas flame or across a hot dry pan for a few seconds per side, until the dull green flashes glossy and the leaf goes limp enough to fold without splitting. Line a roasting dish with them, letting the ends hang well over the sides.",{"title":180,"text":181,"tip":182},"Wrap and seal","Tip the pork and every drop of marinade into the lined dish, spreading it into a single layer. Fold the overhanging leaves tightly over the top, add another leaf across the seam if needed, and clamp the whole thing shut with a lid or a tight double layer of foil.","The parcel must be genuinely sealed. Escaping steam is the difference between shreddable pork and dry pork.",{"title":184,"text":185,"timerSeconds":186},"Roast low and long","Cook at 150°C for 4 hours. It is ready when a fork pushed into a chunk meets no resistance and twists the meat apart into threads, and the liquid in the base has turned into a dark orange, slightly oily broth.",14400,{"title":188,"text":189,"timerSeconds":190},"Pickle the onions meanwhile","Cover the sliced red onion with boiling water for 10 seconds, drain, then toss with the lime juice, oregano and salt. Leave at room temperature for at least an hour, until the slices soften and turn bright magenta all the way through.",3600,{"title":192,"text":193,"tip":194},"Make the habanero salsa","Char the habaneros in a dry pan until blistered and blackened in patches, then chop them very finely — seeds in for full heat, out for merely serious heat. Mix with the diced white onion, lime juice and a good pinch of salt and leave for 20 minutes.","Wash your hands and the board immediately. Habanero oil lingers on knives and finds your eyes an hour later.",{"title":196,"text":197},"Shred and serve","Open the parcel, pull the pork apart with two forks directly in the roasting juices, and turn it over so every thread soaks up liquid. Let it stand 10 minutes, then pile into warm tortillas with pickled onion and pass the habanero salsa separately.",{"calories":199,"protein":200,"carbs":201,"fat":202,"fiber":203,"sugar":77,"sodium":204,"estimated":205},610,42,38,32,5,920,true,[207,210,212,214],{"src":208,"alt":209},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fcochinita-pibil\u002Fhero.jpg","Shredded orange achiote pork in banana leaves with bright pink pickled onions and warm corn tortillas",{"src":211,"alt":209},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fcochinita-pibil\u002Fhero-16x9.jpg",{"src":213,"alt":209},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fcochinita-pibil\u002Fhero-4x3.jpg",{"src":215,"alt":209},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fcochinita-pibil\u002Fhero-1x1.jpg",[217,218,88,219,220,221,222],"cochinita pibil","yucatan","banana leaf","slow roast pork","pickled red onion","mexican 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