geek

Puerco Pibil

Puerco Pibil

Yes it is as good as it looks. Easy, fast, and delicious with a cooking aroma that will drive you crazy with anticipation. The flavor is citrusy and the spiciness is hard to describe…not heat but more complex and it works so well over the richness of the pork.

I’ll confess that I didn’t run out to the the corner bodega for habeñeros, tequila, and banana leaves. Its -22° outside and I refuse to venture forth until it warms up… or Monday morning, whichever comes first. In the meantime I made do with jalapeños, rum, and a Le Creuset French oven. I served it with a simple salad of avocado, cilantro, green onions, oranges, olive oil, and lime juice. The salad perfectly complimented the citrus and spice flavors of the pork. Everyone enjoyed this meal and I’ll definitely make it again.

Robert Rodriquez’s Puerco Pibil

5 tbsp. Annatto
2 tsp. Cumin
8 Allspice
1/2 tsp. Cloves
1 tbsp Black Pepper
1/2 cup Orange Juice
1/2 cup White Vinegar
2 Habañero Peppers
2 tbsp. Salt
8 cloves Garlic
Juice of 5 Lemons
A splash of Tequila
5 lbs. Pork Butt
Banana Leaves

Grind all the spices in coffee grinder used only for spice grinding. Add everything but the pork butt and banana leaves to a blender jar and pulse until it is well mixed. Cut the pork into large chunks. Put the pork and the marinade into a ziploc bag and let it sit in the refrigerator for 3 hours.

Line a pan with the banana leaves and turn out the pork and marinade in to the pan. Fold the banana leaves closed, cover with foil and bake in a 325° oven for 3 hours. Serve with rice.

printer-friendly version

February 4, 2007 | Filed Under beef, fish, poultry, pork, food, soup, salad, sandwich, spicy 

comments

17 Responses to “Puerco Pibil”

  1. Scott at Real Epicurean on February 4th, 2007

    Well it looks a little complicated to me – but only because I have to go to the supermarket and try to find all of the ingredients – but I think I’ll fail!

    It might have to be one of those dishes I just think about…I had something similar in mexico with pork wrapped in banana leaves – not sure if it was a version of the same thing?

  2. Ros on February 5th, 2007

    It really does look delicious!

    When I was younger I had various types of food baked in banana leaves in Sri Lanka and at Sri Lankan dinner parties. I remember it had a distinctive taste, which I never decided if I liked. I think it was a subtle flavour anyway, so easy enogh to leave out of any dish.

  3. amanda on February 6th, 2007

    oooo, this looks tender and udderly delicious. i don’t know what it is about braised pork, but i just can’t say no to it. i can on the other hand say no to -22 degree temperature! my god! i seriously don’t think i could live in a place where that weather occured every year! my hat’s off to you vanessa! (for both the pork and braving the weather!)

  4. vanessa on February 6th, 2007

    Scott, actually once you acquire the annato the rest was just a walk in the park. I’m lucky because we have a Penzeys here in town.

    Melting Wok, I don’t think a banana leaf would be foolish enough to find itself in the middle of Wisconsin in February. But Sri Lanka sounds nice.

    Amanda, I wish I could say the cold doesn’t bother me but I’m not that insane. I just refuse to go outside. We actually had a cold day on Monday, like a snow day but because of cold not snow. I’m sure it’ll warm up soon?

  5. Andy on February 6th, 2007

    so I take it no one shot the cook?

  6. vanessa on February 6th, 2007

    No shots were fired but things did get pretty ugly when we got down to that last piece.

  7. Jacob on February 7th, 2007

    I’ve made something similar to this called Cochinita Pibil. I wonder if that’s the same thing. I’m lazy, so I’ve always just bought the achiote paste. I’m impressed that you made your own! I’ve also always used Seville orange juice, also called bitter orange juice. I think the taste is replicated with your orange, lemon, and maybe the vinegar ingredients. I’ll just say this, stick with your ingredients! No matter how much I tried to like bitter orange juice, I just couldn’t. IMHO, it’s vile, nasty stuff.

  8. vanessa on February 7th, 2007

    Jacob, never put vile nasty ingredients on pork…that’s just so wrong.

  9. pibil-maestro on March 3rd, 2007

    GREAT RECIPE (I LEFT OUT THE BOOZE AND THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE) DO NOT USE PORK LOIN OR IT WILL BE TOO DRY. I USED BASALMIC VINEGAR FOR BETTER FLAVOR.
    HABANEROS ARE TOO HOT FOR THE FAMILIA, SO I USED JALAPENOS.
    I FOUND THE BANANA LEAVES ON THE INTERNET AND AT A LOCAL MEXICAN TIENDA/STORE.

  10. Jacob on April 16th, 2007

    I’m dying here Vanessa. There is puerco pibil goodness slowly cooking away in my oven. There’s a 1/2 hour left on the timer and the aroma is mouth watering. I’m sure you must feel sorry for me, right? :) BTW, I picked up banana leaves from Yue Wah. They’re in the freezer section.

  11. vanessa on April 18th, 2007

    Jacob, I hear it turned out quite well. Did you use Willow Creek Pork? Do you think you got flavor from the banana leaves?

  12. Jacob on April 18th, 2007

    I didn’t use Willow Creek Pork. I can only imagine how much better it would have tasted! If that’s possible… I tend to lean towards authenticity in my recipes, which was why I used the banana leaves. I think they lend a little flavor, but it very well may be drowned out by far more dominant ones. Great recipe though. It’s a keeper.

  13. melissa_cookingdiva on May 14th, 2007

    It looks delicious! great job :)

  14. vanessa on May 14th, 2007

    Cooking Diva, thanks for the kind words!

  15. Living to Eat! » Kensington’s Amazing Whole Foods Supermarket on July 2nd, 2007

    [...] BANANA LEAVES! NOW I CAN MAKE PUERCO PIBIL! [...]

  16. angel on May 4th, 2008

    I made this for the first time tonight. I followed the directions from the 10 minute movie. The only exception I had was that instead of annatto seeds I used annatto powder. I tasted the paste before cooking and was hopeful that wouldn’t taste the same after cooking. The aroma was awfully powerful in the house towards the 2nd and 3rd hours. The time finally came to take it out of oven. I took the tinfoil off and let it set for about another 20 minutes or so. The recipe was wonderful. Didn’t change a thing. Will make it exactly the same again next time.

  17. DMC on August 31st, 2008

    I made this shortly after you posted it and just today got an email from the local butcher about a special on pork butt. This leapt to the forefront of my mind immediately!

    Going to be eating good later this week!

Leave a Reply