Puerco Pibil

First off I have made this quite a few times. The last time I followed the recipe exact to Rodriguez. It is imperative that you do, but as my cooking skills have improved I will let you know what I’ve learned.

Annato seeds are key. Don’t substitute as they are the base to the achiotte paste. These can be found in Asian stores if you do not reside in the US.
Habanero chillies are to be the orange variety. Red are too hot. Jalapeño can be substituted but use up to 3 depending on size. Leave the stems and seeds in using jalapeño.
It’s is 2 table spoons of salt. But kosher salt. Nothing else or it will be too salty as people have said.
Tequila is not necessary. The paste contains enough citric acid and vinegar so the paste will penetrate the meat. But if you do add it, 2 shots.
Banana leaves are also imperative. Not optional. You can get these also in Asian stores. You can freeze what do not use for later.
Cover the whole thing tight in foil when cooking.
Also Allspice berries are known as few different names which is why some may not be able to find them. Jamaican pepper, pimento or pimento berries.
The meat should marinate over night for at least 12+ hours.

I use this to make shredded pork tacos and as the base for pulled pork. The only difference is for pulled pork I do 2 hrs in the oven at 275 and finish it on the pellet smoker for 2 hrs at 225, then mix it with bbq sauce works well with all types, Carolina, Alabama white, or sweet and dpicy!

Great recipe. A few things I’ve learned making it multiple times.
1) Amount of lemons is dependent on how juicy your lemons are and the type. Keep it to less than 3/4 cup. And, sure if you have seville oranges use them instead of lemons and orange juice because that is what you are trying to mimic from the original Mexican.
2) You can buy annatto seeds on Amazon – just do it!
3) I put a banana or two in the blender instead of using banana leaves. Good taste and thickens the sauce.
4) I cut salt back to 2 teaspoons. You can add more later, but, you cannot take it out.
5) To really put it over the top, use Umeboshi vinegar (also known as plum vinegar) for half the vinegar.

I’ve made this several times and really enjoy the process and results. The only adjustment I’ve made it cutting the lemon juice in half; the first time I followed the recipe to the letter and felt the meat came out noticeably sour. I most recently made it for a friends-and-family potluck with this is mind and it went over extremely well.

I made this recipe for my vegetarian wife using Tofu. The amount of sauce in the recipe is enough for 2 to 3 10-oz bricks of tofu (get the extra firm type). Slice the tofu into cubes (1/2 inch for small bites is good), then marinate for 3 hours in a ziplock. Line a deep dish glass baking pan (for example, a bread pan) with banana leaf. One big banana leaf cross section will line the bottom of the pan, and also wrap around the top. Pour in the tofu and the marinade, wrap and cover with banana leaf, then cover with a lid or foil. Bake for 1 hour at 350F. Serve from the hot baking dish with a large spoon – the banana adds a nice presentation.

I modified the marinade recipe slightly:
Substitute 1 Red Fresno, 1 Jalepeno, 1 Serrano for 2 Habanero peppers (deseed and remove ribs)
Instead of 5 lemons, use 2 lemons and 3 limes
Add 1 tablespoon brown sugar

For crispy tofu: after baking, remove the tofu cubes to a preheated frying pan with just a bit of the marinade, and fry at high heat for 30 seconds, flip over, and fry for another 30 seconds. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinade in a saucepan, and add a small amount of corn starch to slightly thicken. Serve the tofu with the sauce drizzled over the top.

Serve with barely steamed (just until a slight color change) broccoli florets – the broccoli goes nicely with the pibil spices.

The proper Mayan recipe is known as Cochinta pibil because it uses a whole suckling pig. The version above is based around the recipe given in the film ‘Once Upon a Time in Mexico’ where if Johnny Depp liked what he was served he would shoot the chef! I too got the recipe from the film but instantly saw errors; why use orange juice and vinegar? Use bitter Seville oranges or mix up fresh oranges with lime juice. I would not add the hot chili –but the annatto (look for achiote) and banana leaves are essential. Annatto is not just a color, as said earlier, and the taste of it and the musty banana leaves adds a unique flavor that is all but destroyed by the hot chili. If you want hot cook another recipe, this one is too good to wreck! The shot of tequila can also be left out.

Long marinating helps, 24 hours is good but here is an idea to get that long cooking time in and save money – a hay box. Cover your pibil in banana leaves then foil, bring it to a boil on the oven, then quickly place it in a box filled with crumpled newspaper (small air pockets are essential) so it is surrounded. Add other insulation around that and leave it for five hours or more. It will slowly cook, no fear of burning and will still be very hot. This also sort of mimics the original idea where the dish was cooked in a pit, hence the name.

This is now my new favorite recipe. Its easy, its fun and it wow’s your friends.

Here’s some tips I had.

1. Use Rubber Gloves when cutting the peppers. (it makes your hands feel much better

2. Cook some rice to serve it over (probably been said)

3. Saute some green peppers and onions

4. Throw in some pine apple (it is a good contrast to the spicy)

5. I used the extra bannana leaves as a garnish. I put a small section of leaf on each plate and served the dish on that. It made it look very cool.

6. This goes great with a nice Mexican Cerveza.

7. Save the marinade and freeze it, you can make a really good black bean soup with it.

And that’s about it, its a really easy recipe, you can make it in advance and freeze it if you’d like. I’d suggest going all out with bannana leaves, I decorated the entire dining room with the leaves. It looked awesome.

This not the original recipe. I have been making this since the Movie came out. I can’t get Banana leaves. (Only once) So I get Heavy duty Foil and the Tequila is not only for flavor but is also a tenderizer please use it. You don’t need to let it set before you bake. Do let it set for 10 minutes after. My Whole neighborhood knows when I make it. It Smells Fantastico!

The Robert Rodriguez recipe makes an excellent Pureco Cochinita Pibil, and it has been made several times in our home with slight variations with the number of habaneros. The first few times it was prepared in the oven with excellent results. Then it has been prepared using a crock pot, cooking for 8 hours, also just as good. For the latest atttempt, I used a pressure cooker at 15psi for 40 minutes. It came out wonderful, and FAST!! It’s a great and very versatile recipe!

Banana leaves can most commonly be found in the freezer section of asian markets, I’ve found annatto most easily at hispanic stores…though it’s very helpful to be in a urban area with those populations (even the cub foods by my house has these things)