Cochinita Pibil

Ingredients

• 2kg boneless pork shoulder, cut into 6cm chunks
• 100g achiote paste (recado rojo)
• 180ml sour orange juice, or 120ml orange juice mixed with 60ml lime juice
• 60ml white vinegar
• 8 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 3 tsp fine sea salt
• 500g banana leaves, thawed if frozen
• 3 tbsp lard
• 2 red onions, sliced paper-thin
• 200ml lime juice
• 1 tsp salt, for the onions
• 1/2 tsp dried Mexican oregano, for the onions
• 1 habanero chile, thinly sliced
• 24 corn tortillas, to serve

Before you cook

• Cut the pork into 6cm chunks, leaving the fat on.
• Crumble the achiote paste into a blender with the sour orange juice, vinegar, garlic, oregano, allspice, cumin, black pepper and salt, and blend to a loose brick-red marinade.
• Put the pork in a large bowl, pour over the marinade and rub it into every piece with your hands. Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours, ideally overnight.
• Slice the red onions as thinly as you can and pack them into a jar or bowl.
• Pour the lime juice over the onions, add the salt, oregano and sliced habanero, press them down and leave them at room temperature for at least an hour, turning once.

Steps

1. Take the pork out of the fridge one hour before cooking and heat the oven to 160C.
2. Pass the banana leaves briefly over a gas flame or lay them on a hot dry pan for ten seconds a side, until they turn glossy and deep green and go soft enough to fold without cracking.
3. Line a deep roasting tin or Dutch oven with the leaves, letting long ends hang over all four sides.
4. Rub the lard over the leaves in the base of the tin.
5. Tip in the pork with all its marinade and spread it into a single layer.
6. Fold the overhanging leaves over the top so the meat is completely sealed, then cover the tin tightly with a lid or a double layer of foil.
7. Roast for four hours, until the pork gives no resistance at all when pressed with a spoon.
8. Take the tin out and let it stand, still sealed, for twenty minutes.
9. Open the parcel carefully, keeping your face back from the steam.
10. Shred the pork coarsely with two forks, directly in the tin, so it soaks up every drop of the red cooking juices.
11. Taste and add salt. The meat should be sharp with citrus, earthy from the achiote and unmistakably rich.
12. Warm the tortillas on a dry comal until soft and pliable.
13. Pile the pork into the tortillas and top each one with a tangle of the pink pickled onions and a slice of habanero for anyone who wants it.