Succulent shreds of tender, slow-roasted pork doused in a fresh tangy citrus sauce laced with fiery heat, all wrapped up in a warm tortilla . . . does that have your mouth watering? 'Cochinita Pibil' is a Mexican specialty traditionally cooked in pits dug in the ground. You can make a tasty version right in your own kitchen with this relatively easy recipe. Make it ahead for your next gathering of friends and family. (Skip to recipe.)
What comes to mind when you think of Mexico? Sombreros and donkeys, beaches and resorts, tourists and tacos? Yes, Mexico has all those, but it also has so much more - breathtaking natural scenery, a diverse landscape of mountains, deserts, and jungles, beautiful colonial cities, and a fantastic cuisine that has been awakening taste buds around the world. Its exciting flavours come from the amalgamation of Spanish and indigenous Mesoamerican cooking and its use of the abundant local produce, the freshest seafoods and meats, and an exciting array of herbs and spices.
The bright colours and flavours of Mexico call to my soul and weave a spell over me. A brilliant wash of sunlight just seems to intensify everything in that beautiful country. Mexico boasts a huge diversity of natural and cultural wonders (and 35 of them are UNESCO world heritage sites!) I was so excited to find out that this month we feature Mexico in our Eat the World recipe challenge. As this post goes live, I'll be on an airplane heading for a week (much too short but better than nothing) back to this favourite place of mine. We'll be staying in the state of Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula, and I cannot wait to discover more of its fantastic secrets (really looking forward to visiting the ruins at Tulum).
It's been such fun for me to be working on this recipe this past week in anticipation of our trip. The word 'pib' comes from the Mayans and means the traditional oven or pit barbecue traditionally used for cooking on the Yucatán Peninsula (and still used today in some of the villages). The 'pib' is made by digging a rectangular pit 2 to 3 feet deep. The bottom is filled with large stones and a fire is built on top. When the fire has died down and the embers have heated the stones to the right temperature (only the local experts know the precise point of readiness), the meats to be cooked are wrapped in banana leaves, tucked into metal pots which are set onto the hot stones, and covered in sack cloth. A layer of earth is shoveled on top and the meats are left to cook in this underground oven for hours, until they are fall-off-the-bone tender and moist, with a fantastic natural flavour. Can you just imagine the heady aromas that burst out as the succulent offerings are uncovered and unwrapped?
Okay, so it's not so easy to make a 'pib' in your back yard, but you can get close to the same effect by marinating and wrapping a hunk of pork in banana leaves, then leaving it to cook in a sealed roasting dish in your oven at low heat. You can even just wrap it in a double layer of parchment paper to get the steam roasting effect (or cheat even more and just do the whole roast in the slow cooker - minus the banana leaves or parchment paper).
Once you've roasted it, you shred it, pour the pan juices over it, and fill warm tacos with the succulent meat. The meat itself is not meant to be spicy, but you can add spice to your tacos with the fresh habanero orange sauce. You mix up a zesty orange juice with finely minced onions and habanero chilis to ladle over the tacos and you're in Yucatan pig heaven.


Let's Make our Cochinita Pibil
First you rub the meat all over with salt and Seville orange or lime juice. The bitter Seville oranges are traditionally used, but you can substitute with lime juice. Then you grind up the aromatic spices (or mix up pre-ground ones) and mix them with garlic and more citrus juice to make a deep red paste. Rub that all over the pork.

Whip out some banana leaves (or use parchment paper) and wrap up that beautiful present. Then let it get nice and mellow in the fridge overnight. The next day roast it low and slow for hours while you go read your favourite trashy novel.

Now unwrap your present and shred up the porky prize inside.
Dont' forget the final step of pouring over all the luscious pan juices to add a glistening layer of flavour and moistness.
While the pork is roasting, whip up a batch of that lip-smacking fresh citrus sauce laced with spicy habanero peppers (or use serranos if you're a wimp like me). The serranos I used weren't even that spicy after soaking in the citrus juice, so next time I might be brave and use habanero chilis as the recipe calls for. As in the marinade, Seville oranges are traditionally used (they're seedy and much more bitter and acidic than regular oranges) but you can make a close match by using a mixture of orange, grapefruit, and lime juice.

Now you're ready to make your flavour-bomb Cochinita Pibil tacos. Pile the meat into warm tortilla shells (I toast mine in a dry skillet, then stack and wrap them in a dampened kitchen towel to keep warm). Add a good swish of the Chili Citrus Sauce, fold up, and devour.
Or add some fresh crunch with the addition of sliced cabbage, radishes, or creamy avocado wedges.
Make sure you invite over a few of your friends to help turn your taco time into a Mexican fiesta (unless you don't want to share - then it's perfectly okay to hoard your delicious stash of cochinita pibil to yourself). Crack open a Corona or a cool Mexican soda and play some mariachi music and you're there! Olé!
* * * * *
Kitchen Frau Notes: You can buy frozen banana leaves in Asian markets or large supermarkets that have an Asian section in the frozen foods aisle. If those aren't available, you can substitute with two large squares of parchment paper.
Achiote (annato) paste or seeds can be found in Latin import stores. If you don't have annato or achiote seeds, substitute with 2 tablespoons sweet paprika. The flavour would be slightly different, but you'd still have a fantastic spice rub.
*After having made the cochinita pibil, I believe you could get a similar effect with using the slow cooker. Next time I'll just marinate the pork with the spice rub in a covered casserole dish, then place it in a slow cooker and cook it on low for 8 to 10 hours. I think you may not even have to wrap it. Of course it'll never be the same as an authentic pit-barbecued pig from the Yucatan, but until I get the real thing, I think this might do! I'll report back once I've tried it and let you know how it turned out in a slow cooker.
Cochinita Pibil Tacos (with Yucatecan Pit-Barbecued Pig you can Make in your Kitchen)
Adapted from 'The Essential Cuisines of Mexico' by Diana Kennedy
for the meat
- 3¼ - 4½ pound (1.5-2 kg) pork roast with fat and preferably with bone in - shoulder picnic roast, shoulder blade roast, or shoulder butt roast all work well
- 5 tablespoons Seville orange juice (or lime juice), divided
- 3 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1 heaped tablespoon achiote seeds or achiote/annato paste (use the seeds for gluten free)
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds (or ground cumin)
- ½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano (or 1 teaspoon regular dried oregano)
- ½ teaspoon peppercorns (or ½ teaspoon ground black pepper)
- 6 whole allspice (or ¼ teaspoon ground allspice)
- 5 garlic cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground dried Yucatecan chili or ¼ teaspoon hot smoked paprika
- 2 large pieces of banana leaf (mine were each over 1 foot wide and 3 feet long/ 100 x 30 cm), thawed if frozen (or substitute two large squares of parchment paper)
- cotton kitchen twine for tying the parcel
- 1 - 2 cups (240-480mls) of water
for the sauce
- ⅔ cup (160ml) Seville orange juice - about 3 to 4 oranges (or use 3 tablespoons/45ml fresh orange juice, 2 tablespoons/30ml fresh grapefruit juice, 5 tablespoons/75ml fresh lime juice, and 1 teaspoon finely grated grapefruit zest)
- ½ cup (120ml) very finely minced red onion
- 3 habanero chilis, very finely minced (or use other hot chili peppers of your choice - I used serrano chilis, including the seeds)
- ½ teaspoon salt
to assemble the tacos:
- about 4 corn tortillas per person
- cochinita pibil
- fresh citrus chili sauce
- sliced red or green cabbage (optional)
- sliced radishes (optional)
- sliced avocado (optional)
The day before cooking the pork, pierce the meat all over with the tip of a sharp knife or a metal skewer. Pour the 2 tablespoons of Seville orange or lime juice all over the meat and then sprinkle all over with 2 teaspoons of the salt.
If you are using whole spices, grind them all in a spice grinder (achiote seeds, cumin seeds, oregano, peppercorns and allspice) or pound them in a mortar with a pestle. Put the garlic cloves through a press or grate them on a fine microplane and add them to the spices. Add the powdered chili or paprika, the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and the additional 3 tablespoons Seville orange, and mix everything to a paste. Smear this paste over the pork, covering all sides.
If using banana leaves, wipe them clean with a damp cloth. Then lightly sear them over a bare flame to make them more flexible, or set them under a preheated broiler in the oven for 10 to 15 seconds. Don't heat them too long, or they will become brittle.
Wrap the meat in one piece of the banana leaves or parchment, then wrap it in the second piece, using kitchen twine to tie up the bundle. Place the wrapped bundle into a dish large enough to just hold it and cover with plastic wrap or a lid. Put it in the refrigerator to season the meat for 8 hours or overnight.
The next day, preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Put a rack into the bottom of a dutch oven that's large enough to hold the wrapped pork. Pour in 1 cup of the water, and place the meat parcel onto the rack. Cover the dutch oven with a tight fitting lid and cook for 2½ hours.
Remove the meat parcel to a plate, pour the juices from the pot into a spouted cup, then return the rack and meat back to the Dutch oven. Pour the juices back into the pot, over the meat parcel, to baste everything well. Cover again and cook for another 2½ hours, checking every hour or so to add more water if the liquid evaporates too low in the pot.
See notes, above, for cooking the pork in the slow cooker without parchment paper or banana leaves.
While the meat is cooking, prepare the sauce. Mix all the ingredients together and leave it to season for at least 2 hours before you serve it.
To Serve as Tacos:
Roughly shred the pork with two forks or your fingers (into finger-thick chunks). Pour the fat and juices from the pan over the shredded meat. If you have skin on your pork, scrape some of the fat from the underside of the cooked skin, but leave a thin layer of it on. Slice the tender, cooked pork skin into thin strips and toss it with the meat. It adds a luscious moistness to the shredded meat. If you shred the meat before serving, reheat it in the microwave at serving time, or cover the platter with foil and keep it warm in a low oven until serving time.
Serve the meat hot, with warm tortillas and the sauce in a separate bowl. People can make their own tacos at the table, just with the pork and the sauce, or you can have small dishes of crunchy additions available, like shredded red or green cabbage, sliced radishes, or soft avocado slices.
Leftover meat and sauce will keep for several days in the refrigerator.
Buen Provecho!
Check out all the wonderful Mexican dishes prepared by fellow Eat the World members and share with #eattheworld. Click here to find out how to join and have fun exploring a country a month in the kitchen with us!
Simply Inspired Meals: Disney Resorts Copycat Churro
Palatable Pastime: Green Poblano Hot Sauce
Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Cochinita Pibil with Homemade Tortillas
Evelyne: Pork with Green Mole and White Beans
A Day in the Life on the Farm: Veggie Enchiladas
Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Crispy Pork Carnitas
Margaret: Cochinita Pibil Tacos: With Yucatecan Pit-Barbecued Pig you can Make in your Kitchen
Loreto & Nicoletta: Huevos Rancheros with Black Bean and Avocado
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Check out my past ‘Eat the World’ Recipe Challenge posts:
- A Taste of Ireland: Dublin Coddle
- A Taste of Thailand: Shrimp Laksa (Khung)
- A Taste of Kenya: Maharagwe with Ugali (Red Beans with Cornmeal Slice)
- A Taste of Sweden: Swedish Meatballs with Cream Gravy
- A Taste of New Zealand: Classic Pavlova
- A Taste of France: Axoa d’Espelette (A Simple Stew from the Basque Country)
- A Taste of Argentina: Red Chimichurri Sauce
- A Taste of India: Kerala Upma (Fluffy, Kerala Style Breakfast Upma Recipe)
- A Taste of Poland: Polish Honey Cake
- A Taste of Ethiopia: Four Ethiopian Recipes for a Fantastic Feast
- A Taste of England: Gluten Free Fish and Chips and Mushy Peas
- A Taste of Georgia: Charkhlis Chogi (Beets with Sour Cherry Sauce)
Simply Inspired Meals
Sounds really delicious and I've never heard of cooking in banana leaves before this challenge, very cool!
Margaret
It was a really fun challenge, Kelley! I’d never cooked with banana leaves either. It was such an easy thing to do and they weren’t hard to find. Now I can’t wait to try cooking a few more things in them! Going bananas!
Wendy Klik
I envy you your trip and this wonderful meal before you left.
Margaret
Thank you, Wendy. I am definitely feeling very lucky to be sitting here and listening to the wind rustling in the palm trees as I write this. It is balm for the soul!
Sina
Wow, Margaret, I love the passion and dedication with which you describe both the traditional preparation and your own approach to this meal!
Enjoy your trip, the food and all the wonderful places you get to visit.
Margaret
Thank you so much, Sina. I really enjoyed researching and learning how to make this dish - it was so much fun. Every time a read and learn about foods from other countries it is so exciting and makes me want to travel there. This month I’m incredibly lucky to actually be here and experience the thrill of it all directly. Mexico is such an exciting country - the colours, the flavours, and the absolutely most friendly people we’ve met anywhere!
Christine Enkerlin
👏🏻👏🏻 I could not do it better my dear friend.
At this rate I will be learning to cook Mexican food from you!
Yumm!! You went all out there, bravo!
I can still smell the fresh juicey meat and by your recipe I’m sure it tastes just the same plus with your habanero sauce my mouth was watering!
Enjoy your trip and gather more magic from all the beauty that region of Mexico brings.
Margaret
Christine, I am just a learning beginner when cooking the fantastic cuisine Mexico offers! These flavours excite me so much and you, my fantastic Mexican chef friend, are the one that inspired me to begin with. I can’t wait to learn so much more from you.
We are having the most wonderful start to our holiday - sparkling sunshine and all the beauty of Mexico. I am in heaven. (Today we explored an amazing underground river with all kinds of stalactites and stalagmites - unforgettable!)