Yucatan street food
Introduced to us by our friends Gerardo and Liz, Cochinita Pibil is a Mexican dish and typical street food in the Yucatan. It is a heavily seasoned, marinated and slow roasted piece of pork (usually shoulder). The marinade is the key to a good cochinita and achiote paste is the key to an authentic marinade.
Achiote paste
You can find achiote paste (mix of annatto seed, oregano, cumin, clove, cinnamon, allspice) or powder in a speciality food store, it’s what gives the dish its red colour and distinct taste. If you are lucky enough to have bitter oranges on hand that would make an even more authentic marinade but I have used a variety of juice including pineapple, passion fruit and grapefruit.
Hot smoking and slow cooking
Traditionally you would wrap your ready to cook cochinita in banana leaves and cook it in a wood-fired oven. Since we are not flush with banana leaves here in Western Canada, A Cook Not Mad decided to change things up a bit with a combination of hot smoking and slow cooking to produce a melt in your mouth and flavourful Canadian version of Cochinita Pibil.
Marinated for two days
In our recipe, the pork shoulder is marinated for two days. The meat is grilled and hot smoked on the BBQ and placed in a crock pot to simmer in the marinade for a couple of hours until it falls apart with a fork. The resulting Cochinita Pibil is then served on a freshly toasted corn tortilla with a spoon full of refried black beans and a quick red onion pickle. It has become one of our favourite things to make and is great for feeding a hungry crowd. Lime spiked beer and Tequila drinks are a natural pairing with this delicious Mexican comfort food. You can find our recipe for a Cochinita Pibil dinner below. Check out our video to get in the mood!
Wood chips
You can use any dry wood chips. I just had to light a few chips to get it going but you may have to use the burner to get it smoking or smoke it any way you know how. I like to grill/smoke it because it caramelizes the meat for more flavour. The secret is putting it back in the hot marinade to finish cooking.
- 3 lbs pork shoulder
- 3 Tbsp achiote paste
- 1 cup orange, grapefruit or high acid fruit juice
- 2 chipotle peppers
- 2 Tbsp coriander seed
- 1 1/2 Tbsp cumin seed
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 Tbsp oregano
- 3 cloves
- 2 inch stick cinnamon
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- salt and pepper
- Season pork shoulder heavily with salt & pepper.
- In a blender or by hand, blend all the remaining ingredients (except cinnamon) to form a smooth marinade.
- Place pork in slow cooker crock and let sit in the fridge for 2 days, turning occasionally.
- To cook, preheat you barbecue to medium low on one side and set up smoker pan on cold side.
- Remove shoulder from marinade and place on hot side of grill, light wood chips and smoke for about 1 hour, turning to caramelize the meat.
- Meanwhile, place the crock with remaining marinade in the slow cooker and turn on high.
- After the pork has smoked and grilled for an hour or more, place it in the slow cooker and baste it with marinade.
- About 2 hours later the pork should fall apart with the twist of a fork and be moist with that intense marinade.
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, cut in medium dice
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin, heaping
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 2 cans (12 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup homemade salsa or your favourite store bought
- In the oil, sauté the onions & garlic until just turning brown.
- Add all the spices and sauté for another couple minutes.
- Add the beans and continue to sauté while crushing some of the beans with the back of a wooden spoon.
- Add the salsa and continue to cook until it's reduced and forms a thick bean paste.
- Scrape the bottom often to mix in the tasty caramelized bits.
- 3 large red onions, sliced into thin strips
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar (I use balsamic)
- pinch of sugar and salt
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and blanche the onion for 1 minute.
- Drain in a colander.
- While still warm, toss with vinegar, salt and sugar.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Toast the corn tortillas in a dry cast iron pan until they start to brown and get soft. Reserve them in a warm, covered serving dish. Shred the pork with two forks, in the cooking liquid and place in a warm serving bowl (we serve it right out of the slow cooker). Build a taco with a spoonful of warm refried beans, some succulent pork and some pickled onions. Squeeze a wedge of lime over the works, roll up, enjoy and repeat.
Cochinita Pibil
One of my favourite dishes in the Yucatan, thanks for sharing I just may try to make it.
It’s an easy one, just needs some planning. Let us know how it turns out.
Wow that is one delicious looking meal! We need to travel through Central and South America so we can get in to the food haha.
Simple, fresh food is the best.