Ingredients
Pork and achiote marinade
- 1200 g boneless pork shoulder about 2 lb 10 oz, with marbling; cut into 4 to 6 large pieces
- 80 g seasoned achiote paste about 2.8 oz; check salt content
- 300 ml sour orange juice about 1 1/4 cups; or 225 ml sweet orange juice plus 75 ml lime juice
- 12 g garlic about 4 cloves
- 1 g dried oregano about 1 teaspoon
- 1 g ground cumin about 1/2 teaspoon
- 0.5 g ground black pepper about 1/4 teaspoon
- 3 g table salt about 1/2 teaspoon; reduce with salty achiote paste
- 100 ml water about 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon
- 2 large banana leaves enough to wrap the pork; not eaten
Optional quick-pickled onion
- 150 g red onion thinly sliced
- 60 ml apple cider vinegar about 1/4 cup
- 60 ml water about 1/4 cup
- 1 g table salt about 1/6 teaspoon
Equipment
- Blender
- Nonreactive covered marinating container
- Deep baking dish with tight-fitting cover
- Large dry skillet
- Food thermometer
- Two forks
Instructions
Marinate and bake
- Blend achiote paste, citrus juice, garlic, oregano, cumin, pepper, 3 g salt and 100 ml water until smooth. Coat the pork in a nonreactive container, cover and refrigerate at 40°F (4°C) or below for 8 hours.
- Heat the oven to 340°F (170°C). Soften banana leaves briefly over a hot, dry skillet until they bend without splitting. Line a deep baking dish, leaving enough overhang to wrap the meat. Add pork and all the marinade.
- Fold leaves over the pork and cover the dish tightly. Bake for about 3 to 3 1/2 hours, beginning to check at 3 hours. Open carefully away from your face; there should be some liquid in the pan and the meat should separate easily with a fork.
- If still firm, re-cover and continue in 20- to 30-minute intervals. Add a little hot water if the bottom dries out. Pork must exceed 145°F (63°C) and rest at least 3 minutes for safety, but shoulder needs further cooking to become shreddable; use fork tenderness as the texture test.
- Rest covered for 15 minutes. Shred with two forks and fold the pork through its juices. Remove banana leaves before eating.
Optional onion and serving
- While the pork bakes, combine red onion, vinegar, 60 ml water and 1 g salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. This is a quick refrigerated pickle, not a shelf-stable preserve.
- Serve pork with a little drained pickled onion. Offer warm tortillas and habanero sauce separately if desired.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving (1/8 batch)Calories: 391.7kcalCarbohydrates: 8.1gProtein: 26.7gFat: 27.4gSaturated Fat: 9.4gSodium: 508.3mgSugar: 2.7g
Notes
Total planning time includes 8 hours of refrigerated marinating, 3 1/2 hours baking and 15 minutes resting. Larger pieces or a different pan may need longer. This home-oven method is an adaptation of traditional pib cooking. Refrigerate leftovers promptly; use within 3 to 4 days and reheat to 165°F (74°C).
Nutrition estimates one-eighth of the pork with all marinade and juices, excluding optional onion, tortillas and sauce. It uses raw pork shoulder with lean and fat (USDA SR Legacy FDC 167843), the listed spices and salt, plus the substitute of 225 ml orange juice (approximately 235.9 g) and 75 ml lime juice (approximately 76.7 g). Achiote uses the El Yucateco export product sheet: per 100 g, 188 kcal, 5.7 g protein, 2.8 g fat, 35 g carbohydrate, 0 g stated sugars/saturated fat and 6.6 g salt; sodium is estimated as salt divided by 2.5. Fiber, cholesterol, other fat fractions and micronutrients are omitted because the paste data do not establish them. Missing does not mean zero. Different paste or sour orange changes the estimate.
