I got a challenge for anyone who wants to try it. This is my favourite Mexican dish. A bit of background. I first made it after seeing Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Robert Rodriguez has a 10 minutes clip where he shows how to make the dish that he calls Puerco Pibil. I tried it and loved it.
Later on, I came across the same dish by Rick Bayless in his "Authentic Mexican 20th Anniversary Ed: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico" cookbook. Both recipes are a bit different but they call for similar ingredients.
In the end, I prefer the Rick Bayless version better and this is what I will make today.
What I suggest, I will put up the recipe + instructions. I will make it and leave anyone 2 weeks to do this dish again. I will take some pictures of the making and post them. What I would like to see is your plating if you do it. Also, any comments welcome if you liked it or not.
It goes as follow. There are 2 big steps to make this dish. 1st is to prepare/roast the spices and second is to roast the meat. You combine the two at the end and simmer. If you made an Indian curry before, it's similar. The real recipe calls for burying the pot and then start a fire on top of it to cook the meat. You could also cook your stuff on the BBQ which adds another dimension to the dish. Some like it without Chilli, that's fine. Others would add a shot of Tequila, I used to but it didn't influence the texture of the meat or taste much. I tried this with beef, pork, lamb and chicken. Pork is best IMO.
So, what you need
Serves 3 (so it's good for me and my other half + I get a lunch the next day
)
Spices
-1 big clove of garlic
-1/2 teaspoon of black peppercorns
-1/2 teaspoon of allspice berries
-1/2 teaspoon of cloves
-1 teaspoon of cumin
-1 teaspoon of cinnamon
-1 teaspoon of salt
-1 teaspoon of oregano
-1 tablespoon of cider vinegar
-4 tablespoons of Sour oranges juice
-1 tomato
-1 onion
-1 Jalapenos
-1 tablespoon of annato seeds
Note:
Sour oranges. Those oranges are supposed to be sour and bitter. A good way to make something similar is to get the juice from 1 orange mixed with the juice of 2 limes. Add a bit of salt (1/2 teaspoon) and that's it.
Annato seeds, also known as the poor man saffron. It's a little red-brownish seed and it's hard. If you have it in a seed format, you will need a good 5-10 minutes in the blender or ~2 mins in a coffee grinder to get a powder out of it. I was never able to get something out of my mortar and pestle. I sometime saw it under 'Achiote', 'Annatto', 'Anatto', 'Anato'. If you can't find it at your local store, try the Asian grocery as they often stock it for Thai cuisine.
Meat
-400 grams of pork shoulder diced
Method
1-Grind your seeds/spices first
2-Warm up a Dutch oven and put in the spices, tomato, onion.
3-Roast the stuff for 3-5 minutes and transfer to the blender
4-Start roasting the meat in the same pot.
5-Puree the whole thing and add the cider/sour orange juice.
6-This shouldn't take long and re-add to your pot.
7-Add 1/2-1cup of water in the empty blender to wash the spices from the sides and throw them back in the pot.
8-Simmer for 3-4 hours at least. The longer the better.
9-1 hour before you eat, take the lid off so the liquids turn into a thick sauce.
Serve with either rice or corn tortillas, salsa and guacamole. I also keep a bit of Queso Manchego or some other cheese to eat my tacos with.
I pickled some red onions specially for this. So, putting together some orange juice, lime, salt and I add a diced onion. If you can pickle it for 2 days, it's best. The juice from the onions is what I used in this recipe and I will serve the onions with the tacos. The acidity of the juice will "cook" the onions.
So, here we go. Cochinita Pibil.
So, how did you go?
Later on, I came across the same dish by Rick Bayless in his "Authentic Mexican 20th Anniversary Ed: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico" cookbook. Both recipes are a bit different but they call for similar ingredients.
In the end, I prefer the Rick Bayless version better and this is what I will make today.
What I suggest, I will put up the recipe + instructions. I will make it and leave anyone 2 weeks to do this dish again. I will take some pictures of the making and post them. What I would like to see is your plating if you do it. Also, any comments welcome if you liked it or not.
It goes as follow. There are 2 big steps to make this dish. 1st is to prepare/roast the spices and second is to roast the meat. You combine the two at the end and simmer. If you made an Indian curry before, it's similar. The real recipe calls for burying the pot and then start a fire on top of it to cook the meat. You could also cook your stuff on the BBQ which adds another dimension to the dish. Some like it without Chilli, that's fine. Others would add a shot of Tequila, I used to but it didn't influence the texture of the meat or taste much. I tried this with beef, pork, lamb and chicken. Pork is best IMO.
So, what you need
Serves 3 (so it's good for me and my other half + I get a lunch the next day
)Spices
-1 big clove of garlic
-1/2 teaspoon of black peppercorns
-1/2 teaspoon of allspice berries
-1/2 teaspoon of cloves
-1 teaspoon of cumin
-1 teaspoon of cinnamon
-1 teaspoon of salt
-1 teaspoon of oregano
-1 tablespoon of cider vinegar
-4 tablespoons of Sour oranges juice
-1 tomato
-1 onion
-1 Jalapenos
-1 tablespoon of annato seeds
Note:
Sour oranges. Those oranges are supposed to be sour and bitter. A good way to make something similar is to get the juice from 1 orange mixed with the juice of 2 limes. Add a bit of salt (1/2 teaspoon) and that's it.
Annato seeds, also known as the poor man saffron. It's a little red-brownish seed and it's hard. If you have it in a seed format, you will need a good 5-10 minutes in the blender or ~2 mins in a coffee grinder to get a powder out of it. I was never able to get something out of my mortar and pestle. I sometime saw it under 'Achiote', 'Annatto', 'Anatto', 'Anato'. If you can't find it at your local store, try the Asian grocery as they often stock it for Thai cuisine.
Meat
-400 grams of pork shoulder diced
Method
1-Grind your seeds/spices first
2-Warm up a Dutch oven and put in the spices, tomato, onion.
3-Roast the stuff for 3-5 minutes and transfer to the blender
4-Start roasting the meat in the same pot.
5-Puree the whole thing and add the cider/sour orange juice.
6-This shouldn't take long and re-add to your pot.
7-Add 1/2-1cup of water in the empty blender to wash the spices from the sides and throw them back in the pot.
8-Simmer for 3-4 hours at least. The longer the better.
9-1 hour before you eat, take the lid off so the liquids turn into a thick sauce.
Serve with either rice or corn tortillas, salsa and guacamole. I also keep a bit of Queso Manchego or some other cheese to eat my tacos with.
I pickled some red onions specially for this. So, putting together some orange juice, lime, salt and I add a diced onion. If you can pickle it for 2 days, it's best. The juice from the onions is what I used in this recipe and I will serve the onions with the tacos. The acidity of the juice will "cook" the onions.
So, here we go. Cochinita Pibil.
So, how did you go?
