Cochito Horneado de Chiapa de Corzo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large roasting pan with rack
• •Cast iron comal for toasting chiles and charring aromatics
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wide clay cazuela or barro platter from Chiapas for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Salt the pork

   Pat the suckling pig completely dry. Score the skin lightly in a crosshatch, cutting through the skin but not deep into the meat. Rub the pig all over with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the salt, especially inside the shoulders and legs where thick meat hides. Set it on a rack in a roasting pan and refrigerate while you make the adobo. If using pork shoulder or fresh ham, score the skin the same way and keep the pieces large. Small cubes dry out before the adobo has done its work.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile ancho one or two at a time, about 20 seconds per side, pressing them flat with tongs until they soften, darken slightly, and smell raisiny. Do not blacken them. Burned ancho turns the whole adobo bitter, and no amount of achiote will save it. Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water for 20 minutes.

   Chile ancho is the dried poblano. It brings dark fruit, mild heat, and body. This dish is not about burning your mouth. It is about a deep adobo that tastes like Chiapa de Corzo.
3. 3

   Char the aromatics

   On the same comal, char the tomatoes, onion quarters, and unpeeled garlic until the tomato skins blister, the onion edges brown, and the garlic softens inside its peel. Toast the allspice, black peppercorns, cloves, and cinnamon stick for 30 to 45 seconds, just until fragrant. Keep them moving. Spices should wake up, not burn.

4. 4

   Blend the adobo

   Drain the softened chiles. Peel the roasted garlic. In a blender, combine the chiles, tomatoes, onion, garlic, achiote paste, vinegar, 1/2 cup pork stock, oregano, thyme, marjoram, toasted spices, bay leaves, and the remaining 1 tablespoon salt. Blend until completely smooth. If the blender struggles, add another splash of stock. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing hard on the solids. The adobo should be brick-red, thick, and clean on the tongue.

5. 5

   Fry the adobo

   Melt 1/4 cup of the manteca de cerdo in a wide cazuela or heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the strained adobo carefully. It will sputter. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the color deepens and the lard begins to shine around the edges. Raw adobo tastes like wet chile. Fried adobo tastes like a kitchen that knows what it is doing. La manteca es el sabor.

6. 6

   Marinate overnight

   Let the adobo cool to room temperature. Reserve 1 cup in a clean container for basting and sauce. Rub the rest over the pork, pushing it into the scored skin, the cavity, the shoulders, and the legs. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, preferably overnight. No me vengas con atajos. The vinegar, achiote, chile ancho, and spices need time to enter the meat.

7. 7

   Roast covered

   Take the pork out of the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting. Heat the oven to 325F. Set the pig skin side up on a rack in a large roasting pan. Pour 2 cups pork stock into the pan, not over the skin. Brush the skin with half of the remaining melted lard. Cover loosely with parchment and foil, leaving a little room so the cover does not stick to the adobo. Roast for 3 hours, rotating the pan once. The meat should begin to pull back from the joints and the pan juices should be red with chile and fat.

   In Chiapa de Corzo this belongs in a wood oven. A home oven is a compromise, not an upgrade, but it can respect the method if you roast slowly and do not rush the skin.
8. 8

   Crisp the skin

   Uncover the pork and raise the oven to 425F. Brush the skin with the remaining lard. Brush the exposed meat and edges with some of the reserved adobo, but do not paint the skin too heavily now or the chile can scorch. Roast 35 to 45 minutes more, until the skin is dark mahogany, crisp under a knife tip, and glossy with rendered fat. The thickest shoulder meat should read at least 185F for tenderness, and the leg should be at least 165F. If one area darkens too quickly, shield only that spot with foil.

9. 9

   Rest and sauce

   Transfer the pork to a large board and rest 25 minutes. Pour the pan juices into a saucepan and skim off only the excess fat, leaving enough for shine and flavor. Whisk in the remaining reserved adobo and simmer 10 minutes, until the sauce coats a spoon. Taste for salt and vinegar. It should be deep, tangy, and chile-rich, not sweet and not sharp.

10. 10

    Serve Chiapa style

    Cut the pork into generous pieces, keeping crisp skin attached to the meat. Pile it in a wide clay cazuela and spoon the hot adobo sauce over the cut sides, leaving some skin exposed so it stays crisp. Serve with thin lettuce, radishes, rinsed white onion, lime halves, warm corn tortillas, and frijoles negros if you made them. This is not cochinita pibil and it is not barbecue. This is Chiapa de Corzo. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •Ask a butcher for a 10 to 12 pound suckling pig, cleaned and split through the backbone so it lies flat. If that is impossible, use skin-on pork shoulder or fresh ham. You lose the fiesta shape, not the Chiapa de Corzo adobo.
• •Buy chile ancho that bends a little and smells like raisins, tobacco, and dried fruit. If it cracks like old paper and smells like dust, leave it. Sourcing wins. You can have perfect technique and dead chiles and still get a bad cochito.
• •Do not confuse this with cochinita pibil. Yucatan has its own authority. This one belongs to Chiapas: chile ancho, achiote, vinegar, spice, manteca, and oven heat.
• •The skin crisps better when the pork rests uncovered in the refrigerator after salting. Moist skin fights you. Dry skin works with you.
• •Serve corn tortillas, not flour. Flour tortillas are a northern tradition. Chiapa de Corzo is not Sonora. This is a 32-state cuisine.

Advance Preparation

• •The adobo can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Warm it slightly before rubbing so it spreads evenly.
• •The pork should marinate at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours. Past that, the vinegar begins to change the texture too much.
• •Leftover cochito keeps 4 days refrigerated. Reheat uncovered in a 375F oven so the skin has a chance to crisp again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 360g)