Puerco Pibil
I was watching a DVD and found this puerco/cochinita pibil recipe as part of the special features. I was intrigued by the role the food played.
Submitted by: Kenton from Seattle, Washington
Preparation Instructions:
- Grind the annato seeds, cumin seeds, whole peppercorns, whole cloves, and whole allspice in a mortar and pestle, molcajete y tejolote, spice grinder or coffe grinder.
- Blend the cleaned and chopped habanero peppers with the orange juice, vinegar, garlic and salt.
- Mix the dry spices with the liquid.
- Add the juice of 5 lemons and a nice splash of tequila.
- Place the cubed pork butt in a large zip lock bag and add the marinade. Soak 4-6 hours, in refrigerator, turning several times.
- Line (8 by 13) baking pan with banana leaves. Pour in pork along with the marinade. Cover with Banana leaves and seal the pan with foil. Bake in a 325 F degree oven for 4 hours.
thespicehouse.com
More About This Recipe
Banana leaves are optional, because I haven't found any locally yet. Take it easy on Habanero peppers. HOT!HOT!!HOT!!! Preground spices can be used in place of the whole spices, but the brilliant flavor of freshly ground spices really makes this dish what it is! (Editor's note: It may be helpful to read the hints left in the reviews of this recipe. Another suggestion, given to us by Dennis from Rawlins, Wyoming, is to add brown sugar to the marinating mix, use limes instead of lemons, and only cook 3 to 3 1/2 hours in aluminum foil.)
I’ve noticed a lot of posts suggesting the lemon being too tart. In reality, in the region of the world where Puerco Pibil comes from, they wouldn’t have used lemon in the recipe, it would have been lime.
Also..habenero…that’s not a south american spice, that’s a pepper that was created by us heat addicted americans. They would have used, probably, a poblano, but maybe a jalepeno. Without the extra heat burning your taste buds, this recipe is so very complex and balanced.
Pibil is Pibil. Puerco is Puerco, You can Pibil anything..puerco, pollo, bisteca, etc.
Finally, this recipe is amazing to use for taco meat. I do it all the time. Use this recipe, some rice, diced avacado, and you have one of the most amazing tacos ever..just dont forget to drizzle with fresh lime juice
Wow! This was really good. I doubled everything except the habaneros, cloves, and lemon. It really didn’t need as much lemons as the recipe suggested. I used the pork cushion cut into chunks, and got the banana leaves right off the tree in my back yard. I served mine with white rice, sweet plantains, and yuca en escabeche. The leftovers were devine, and it seemed to just get better on every re-heat. It made fantastic tacos.the third day, and I used it as a pizza topping on another day. It was a big hit for x-mas dinner and already they are asking me to make it again!
I’ve been cooking this since I saw the movie and after maybe 10 times, trying different ways, here’s my opinion:
- MUST be pork butt. As was said before, the fat avoid the dry meat flavor.
- NO SPICE CHANGES: you may do it so, but the original recipe takes Annato and all the rest. Including banana leaves!
- I don’t see many differences between the website and the movie, anyway I stick most with the site, especialy about the marinading time. It’s so basic. How do you want to get the max flavour if you don’t do that?
- Somebody said “use gloves” to handle the habaneros. Hyper helpful! This way you avoid to cry for the next 24 hours when you touch your own eyes.
- My only change: I always double the orange juice because it minimizes the habaneros, lemon tart AND gives you a little more extra sauce at the end.
- and last, everytime I cook that, especialy when my guests bring friends that I don’t know, I use a bullet proof vest, just in case. You never know…
I haven’t made this dish yet but I’ve been dying to for quite some time. The one thing I want to know is how you came up with the marinating time? In the video on the dvd he doesn’t say anything about letting it sit. I realize it’s probably one of those shouldn’t have to mention it because it should be obvious but some people might not know to do that.
Try the recipe with chicken. Somehow it absorbs the flavor a lot more. Unfortunately, chicken breast is a lot more expensive than pork butt. If you need a name for it: Pollo Pibil.
Stick to the DVD recipe and it’s great. Only thing is I agree with several people to cut down on the lemon or it’s too tart. Also, I couldn’t find banana leaves anywhere in Milwaukee when I first made this but I have since found them at the new Woodman’s market on Howell. I can’t wait to try this again with the authentic banana leaves. Don’t skip the tequila either folks, the alcohol completely cooks away anyway.
Great recipe! The second time I made it I used only 2.5 large lemons. The first time I made it I used 5 large lemons. WAY TOO TART.
If the lemons you are using are bigger than a racket ball, SCALE DOWN ! Also, the second time around, I skipped the marinading step without a noticeable change (but it has been awhile since the first time I made it). I use Uncle Ben’s white rice for accompaniment, the full grains are great with the sauce from the Pibil. Lastly, I skipped the Tequila since I knew my daughters friends were joining us for dinner, and didn’t want them staggering home. As Robert Rodriguez said “ENJOY!”.
Okay guys and gals, I have read coutless copies of the recepie from the movie and they are all WRONG. If you will watch the ‘10 minute cooking school’ feature from the Once Upon A Time In Mexico DVD agin, you will see that the peppers used are Abanero (Orange), not, I say again NOT Jabanero (Red) peppers. I know, they sound alot alike…The difference? About 3 alarms on the heat scale. Use the right peppers and you won’t burn that sensitive stomach. As much.FYI, I did manage to find banana leaves here in Tulsa at Las Americas grocery store. I couldn’t tell any difference in the taste, but as Robert says “It looks coooler” Hope this helps. ( I know, I get letters saying I’M wrong, but before you send them, watch that video again…..)
The recipe from Rodriguez is like his movies – masterful, unconventional and totally mind-blowing. I make this dish frequently and make things easier by using a large cook-in bag instead of a Ziploc bag. This means you can marinade and cook without transferring the pork or messing around with banana leaves and/or tinfoil. There is little mess and cleaning up is a breeze.
i made the puerco pibil using the instructions from the dvd not from this site and it was amazing. my advice to any one wanting to make this dish is to follow the instrucions from once upon a time in mexico and not from any internet recipie. if you do this like the dvd this dish is to die for.