Cochinita Pibil

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Simply Recipes contributor Hank Shaw‘s Cochinita Pibil, or pulled pork braised in citrus and achiote. ~Elise

Cochinita pibil (ko-chin-ee-ta pee-beel) is an easy braised pork dish that originally comes from the Yucatan in Mexico.

It is one of my girlfriend Holly’s favorite dishes to cook, and ever since she first encountered recipes for it, first in Diana Kennedy’s The Cuisines of Mexico and then in a book called Mexican Border Flavors. Holly makes it whenever she can.

This is gorging food. We once made it with nearly four pounds of pork shoulder and invited another couple over for dinner—we ate the whole thing, with a pile of rice and lots of beer.

It’s so good you’ll find yourself fighting over the last shreds of meat.

Holly doesn’t like me adding the Mexican dry cheese queso seco to her pibil, but I like the contrast between the cheese and the acidic marinade. We sometimes break out some pickled onions to serve with this, too, as it is traditional.

Don’t be tempted to add heat to this dish with chiles: It’s not supposed to be fiery hot, although the bright red of the achiote paste, which is largely crushed annatto seeds, cornmeal and garlic, sure make it look picante.

You can find achiote paste in any Latin market; you want achiote rojo, not the green kind (achiote verde).

Cochinita Pibil Recipe

If for some reason you don’t eat all your cochinita pibil at one sitting, it will keep for several days in the fridge. Achiote is an essential ingredient for this recipe, there is no substitute.

Ingredients

• 3-4 pounds pork shoulder
• 1 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed if possible
• 1/2 cup lime juice, juice of 4-5 limes
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 3 ounces of red (rojo) achiote paste, available in Latin markets
• Pickled red onions (optional), for garnish
• Dry Mexican cheese (queso seco), for garnish
• Chopped cilantro, for garnish
• Lime wedges, for garnish

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