Tostadas de Cochinita Pibil

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 6-quart Dutch oven or clay cazuela with a tight lid
• •High-powered blender for the recado
• •Heavy skillet for frying tostadas
• •Glass jar for the pickled onions
• •Wire rack for draining tostadas
• •Tongs

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the recado

   Break the achiote paste into chunks and drop it into a blender. Add the naranja agria juice, garlic, oregano yucateco, allspice, black pepper, cumin, and salt. Blend on high until you have a smooth, brick-red marinade the color of Mérida rooftops. The achiote paste is the spine of the dish. Do not use ground achiote seeds and call it the same thing. Recado rojo from a block, made in Yucatán, is what you want. Read the label.

   If you cannot find naranja agria, the citrus mix in the ingredient list will get you close. Do not use plain orange juice alone. The acidity has to be sharp enough to cut the achiote and tenderize the pork.
2. 2

   Marinate the pork

   Place the pork shoulder chunks in a non-reactive bowl. Pour the recado over the meat and turn each piece until they are completely coated, red from every angle. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. The longer the better. The acid in the sour orange breaks down the fibers and the achiote stains the meat all the way through, not just on the surface.

3. 3

   Prepare the banana leaves

   One leaf at a time, pass the banana leaf over an open gas flame for a few seconds on each side. The leaf will turn from matte green to glossy and become pliable. This is how the women in Ticul prepare it before lining the pib. The heat releases the leaf's oils and keeps it from cracking when you fold it.

   If you only have an electric stove, warm the leaves briefly in a dry comal until they shine and soften. Do not skip this step. A cold banana leaf will tear the moment you bend it.
4. 4

   Wrap and braise

   Line a heavy Dutch oven or cazuela with the banana leaves, letting the ends hang over the sides. Spoon the lard onto the leaves. Pile in the marinated pork with all of the recado. Fold the overhanging leaves over the top to seal the pork inside a green packet. Cover with the lid. Place in a 300F oven and cook for 3 to 3.5 hours, until the pork pulls apart with a fork and the lard underneath has turned a deep orange-red. You are not making a pib in a backyard pit. You are honoring the method in a home oven. The banana leaf is non-negotiable. That smoky, grassy perfume is the cochinita.

   Do not open the pot before 3 hours. Every time you lift the lid, the steam that is doing the work escapes. Trust the time.
5. 5

   Pickle the onions

   While the pork braises, make the cebolla morada en escabeche. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Drop the sliced red onion in for exactly 15 seconds, then drain. This blanching takes the raw edge off without cooking them. Transfer to a glass jar. Add the naranja agria juice, the sliced habanero, oregano, salt, and sugar. Stir and let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour. The onions will turn bright fuchsia. That color is the visual signature of every panucheria in Mérida.

   Pickled red onions keep in the refrigerator for two weeks. Make them in a big jar. You will use them on everything: panuchos, salbutes, eggs, tortas, leftover cochinita the next day.
6. 6

   Shred the cochinita

   Pull the pot from the oven. Open the banana leaves carefully. The pork should be soft enough to shred with two forks. Tear the meat apart inside the pot, working it through the orange-red lard and the juices that have collected in the bottom. The meat absorbs the fat and the flavor goes everywhere. Taste for salt. Cochinita pibil should taste like sour orange, smoke from the leaf, achiote, and good pork fat, in that order.

7. 7

   Fry the tostadas

   Heat the lard or oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high until it shimmers. One at a time, slide a corn tortilla into the fat. It will bubble immediately. Fry for about 30 seconds per side, flipping with tongs, until each tortilla is golden brown and rigid. Drain on a wire rack. The tostada should hold the weight of the cochinita without bending. Manteca gives the best flavor. Neutral oil works if you must, but it is a compromise.

   Day-old corn tortillas fry into the crispest tostadas. The slight staleness means less moisture to fight off in the pan. If your tortillas are very fresh, leave them uncovered on the counter for an hour first.
8. 8

   Build the tostadas

   Lay the fried tostadas on a wide platter or wooden board. Spoon a generous mound of cochinita onto each one, letting some of the orange-red juice soak into the crisp tortilla. Top with avocado slices, then a heap of the pickled red onion and a few rings of the habanero from the jar. Drizzle with habanero salsa to the level of heat each person can handle. Finish with a few cilantro leaves and a squeeze of lime if you like. Serve immediately. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and this one belongs to Yucatán.

Chef Tips

• •Recado rojo is sold in 3.5-ounce bricks wrapped in plastic. Look for the El Yucateco or La Anita brand at Mexican grocers. The color should be deep brick red, not orange. If it crumbles to powder in your hand, it is too old. A fresh block is dense and a little tacky.
• •Banana leaves are sold frozen at Latin and Asian markets, folded into long packages. Thaw them fully and pat dry before passing over the flame. Do not substitute aluminum foil. The banana leaf gives the pork a grassy, smoky perfume that nothing else replicates. Without it, you have braised pork. With it, you have cochinita.
• •The habanero salsa is your heat control. Make it separately, as hot as you can stand, and let each person dose their own tostada. A proper Yucatecan habanero salsa is fire. Pace yourself.
• •Leftover cochinita is better the next day. Reheat gently in its own fat and tuck into warm corn tortillas for tacos, or pile onto more tostadas for lunch. The flavor only deepens.

Advance Preparation

• •The recado marinade can be blended and combined with the pork up to 24 hours ahead. Overnight is better than 4 hours.
• •The cochinita can be fully cooked and shredded one day ahead. Refrigerate it in its own fat and juices. Reheat gently before serving. The flavor improves overnight.
• •Pickled red onions can be made up to two weeks ahead and kept refrigerated in their jar.
• •Fry the tostadas no more than two hours before serving. They lose their crispness once they sit too long.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 355g)