Cochinita Pibil Breakfast Tacos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 6-quart Dutch oven or deep roasting pan with tight-fitting lid
• •High-powered blender
• •Cast iron comal for warming tortillas
• •Two large banana leaves (frozen, thawed)
• •Heavy foil if your lid does not seal tightly

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the recado rojo

   Break the achiote paste into chunks and drop it into a blender with the sour orange juice, lime juice, garlic, oregano, allspice, black pepper, cumin, cloves, and salt. Blend on high until you have a thick, brick-red marinade with no lumps. Taste it. It should be sharp from the citrus, deeply earthy from the achiote, and well salted. This is the recado rojo and it is the dish. There is no cochinita pibil without it.

   Buy the achiote paste in a small block, not powdered seasoning mix. The block should be dense, deep red, and slightly oily. El Yucateco and La Anita are the brands the senoras in Merida use.
2. 2

   Marinate the pork overnight

   Place the pork chunks in a large bowl or zip-top bag. Pour the recado rojo over the meat and use your hands to work the marinade into every surface. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, ideally overnight. The achiote needs time to penetrate. Twelve hours is better than eight. No me vengas con atajos.

3. 3

   Soften the banana leaves

   Pass each banana leaf over an open flame on the stovetop, moving it steadily so it does not burn. The leaf will turn from matte to glossy and become pliable in your hands. This is how the leaf releases its perfume into the pork. Skip this and the leaves crack when you try to fold them. Asi se hace y punto.

4. 4

   Build the bundle

   Line a deep Dutch oven or heavy roasting pan with the banana leaves, letting them drape generously over the sides so they can fold back over the top. Pour the melted lard across the leaves. Lay the marinated pork in a single layer, scraping every drop of recado from the bowl onto the meat. Fold the overhanging banana leaves back over the pork to form a sealed bundle. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid or two layers of heavy foil.

5. 5

   Slow-cook until the meat surrenders

   Heat the oven to 300F. Slide the pot in and cook for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Do not open the lid for the first three hours. The bundle is doing the work of the pib, the earthen pit the dish is named for, and every time you lift the lid you steal heat the pork needs. The pork is ready when it pulls apart with the gentle push of a fork and the lard at the bottom of the pot has turned the color of a Yucatecan sunset.

6. 6

   Make the cebollas encurtidas

   While the pork cooks, put the sliced red onion in a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over it, count to ten, and drain. This blanching softens the bite. Return the onion to the bowl and add the sour orange juice, salt, oregano, and sliced habanero. Stir and let sit at room temperature for at least an hour. The onions will turn a vivid pink. The habanero will perfume the whole jar. This pickle is not a garnish. It is the second half of the recipe.

   Habanero is a Yucatecan chile, fruity and floral, not just hot. If you have never worked with it, start with one and slice it thinly. Two is normal in Merida. Three is for people who grew up there.
7. 7

   Shred the cochinita

   Open the banana leaves at the table if you want the smell to do its job. Lift the pork onto a wide platter and pull it into rough shreds with two forks. The meat should be stained the color of the recado all the way through. Spoon some of the rendered fat and juices from the bottom of the pot over the shredded meat. La manteca es el sabor. Without that fat the tacos will taste flat at breakfast.

8. 8

   Warm the tortillas and assemble

   Heat a comal over medium-high. Warm the tortillas one at a time, about 20 seconds per side, until they puff and pick up a few darkened spots. Stack them in a folded servilleta to keep them warm and soft. Build each taco at the table: a generous pile of cochinita, a forkful of pink onions and habanero, a few cilantro leaves if you like. Eat it standing up if necessary. Merida wakes up to this. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •The achiote paste must come from a Mexican brand, ideally from Yucatan itself. El Yucateco and La Anita are reliable. If your achiote paste is a powdered seasoning mix with corn flour as the first ingredient, throw it out and find the real block.
• •Naranja agria is the bitter Seville orange used across Yucatan. If you cannot find it, the lime-orange-vinegar substitute in this recipe is what Yucatecan cooks living outside the peninsula have been doing for decades. It is a compromise, not an upgrade, but it works.
• •Banana leaves are sold frozen in Mexican and Asian markets. Thaw them fully before passing them over the flame. The leaf does two things: it perfumes the pork and it traps the steam the way the buried pib does. Foil alone will not give you the same flavor.
• •Cochinita is better the next day. The achiote settles into the meat and the fat sets. Reheat in a covered pan over low heat with a splash of the reserved juices. This is exactly how the Merida stands serve it at six in the morning, made the night before and reheated for the breakfast rush.

Advance Preparation

• •Marinate the pork overnight, minimum eight hours. This is not optional. The achiote needs time to penetrate the meat or the flavor stays on the surface.
• •The cooked cochinita keeps refrigerated for four days and the flavor only deepens. Reheat covered over low heat with a few spoonfuls of the reserved juices.
• •The pickled red onions can be made up to one week ahead. They get better as they sit.
• •The whole dish can be assembled the day before a breakfast service: cochinita cooked, onions pickled, tortillas pressed. In the morning, reheat the meat, warm the tortillas, and pour coffee.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 215g)