Cochinita Pibil Question

[Plata-O-Plomo]

Okay, I made this yesterday. I am sorry, I did not take any pics. We were watching grand kids all day. Enough said about that.

Here is what I used/did:

1. I had a 9 pound butt, bone in. I took the fat cap down to about 1/4". I scored both sides about 1 to 2 inches deep. I lightly salted the butt with kosher salt.
2. I used a box of El Yucateco Anchioto Paste. I added about a teaspoon of both coriander and cumin. I mixed all this into about 1 1/4 cup of Naranja Agria (sour orange).
3. I marinated the butt in the juice mixture over night.
4. I placed banana leaves on the bottom of an aluminum pan. Placed the butt into it, poured the marinade over the top, then covered the top of the pan with more banana leaves. I then covered and sealed the pan with aluminum foil.
5. I baked this in my big green egg running it at about 310. Five hours in I opened the egg for the first time and temped the meat. It was right at 202 and tender. I let it go another ten minutes then pulled and rested.
6. I removed the banana leaves and the liquid from the pan. Shredded the pork, took the fat off the top of the juices and mixed it back in.
7. Then...we ate.

Overall the critique was that it tasted just like the authentic pork from the Yucatan. I cant wait for left overs tonight in that I know it will even get better.

I also did the pickled onions which I totally loved!
1. Sliced red onion in about 1/4" width.
2. Boiled water
3. Poured boiling water onto the onions.
4. Left the water on the onions for about 45-50 seconds then strained.
5. I placed the strained onions into a mason jar, added about 1.5 teaspoon of kosher salt, then covered with the Naranja Agria.
6. Chilled for about four hours until dinner.
YUM!


I found all the stuff here at a local market. I really enjoyed going into the markets to see their meat counters and food counters.

POP

[Badjak]

Just wondering:
Could you wrap in only banana leaves? Maybe a triple layer?
It would look so much cooler and I got basically unlimited access to banana leaves...

[Plata-O-Plomo]

After only doing this once I am for sure no expert. It appears the banana leaves are to help keep the marinade and juices inside so that the pork braises. It will also add it's own flavor. I found that the fresh banana leaves I purchased were still somewhat brittle and easily split. I am not sure that you will be able to hold all the juices inside the package with just the leaves. But this is BBQ, give it a try. The package of leaves I purchased would easily wrap the butt three or four times. Definitely place a pan or something under it to catch the fallout.

[DerHusker]

Originally Posted by Badjak

Just wondering:
Could you wrap in only banana leaves? Maybe a triple layer?
It would look so much cooler and I got basically unlimited access to banana leaves...

Originally Posted by Plata-O-Plomo

After only doing this once I am for sure no expert. It appears the banana leaves are to help keep the marinade and juices inside so that the pork braises. It will also add it's own flavor. I found that the fresh banana leaves I purchased were still somewhat brittle and easily split. I am not sure that you will be able to hold all the juices inside the package with just the leaves. But this is BBQ, give it a try. The package of leaves I purchased would easily wrap the butt three or four times. Definitely place a pan or something under it to catch the fallout.

P-O-P has it right again. The banana leaves would never be able to hold the marinade and juices in on their own. Wrapping in just banana leave would be fine so long as you have a pan under it all. Also the top leaves will dry out and possible burn so covering with foil would be best.

[Onebadshredda]

I made this version and it was excellent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_sdhAFGmbw

[Badjak]

I'm still going to give it a try, since I am stubborn :)
I do manage with fish and sauce/paste.


One of the tricks of working with banana leaves is to heat them before using them as wrappers. They then become very pliable. They are a pain to work with otherwise.
Only real problem I see is finding big enough banana leaves.


I suppose I'll try with a smaller piece of pork and I will put a drip pan underneath, just in case (I'm not that stubborn)....