Conchinita Pibil

I first heard of this dish while watching the Netflix Show "Chef's Table: BBQ". There was an episode that featured the Mayan Chef, Rosalia Chay Chuc, and her iconic "Conchinita Pibil" dish. In typical Mayan culture, they would cook this pork dish in a pit in the ground. The beautiful meaning behind this, as she describes in the episode, is that what you take from the earth you give back to it. After watching the entire season of great BBQ recipes, I decided to try my hand on this dish, one that is rich in culture and color. Unfortunately I don't have a pit in the ground, so a smoker will have suffice!

To start you will need to do a little shopping at an international grocery store. In Charlotte there is a fantastic one off Independence Blvd called "Super Global Mart" or "Super G Mart" for short. Here you'll find spices, produce, products and more from cultures and countries across the globe. It was pretty overwhelming being there and not wanting to try everything, but I was there for just a few items: Achiote Paste & Fresh Banana Leaves. You can also buy some of this on amazon! The achiote paste I used is linked here. Achiote paste is a paste made of Annatto seeds and other citrus and spices. It is a deep intense red/orange color.

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RECIPE:

Conchinita Pibil

• 6 lb Pork Shoulder/Butt (Traditionally a suckling pig is used but this will substitute fine)

• 4-5 cloves of Garlic

• Achiote Paste (1 3.5 oz box)

• 1 Onion- Chopped Largely

• 1 Cup Bitter/Sour Orange Juice (if you do not have access to this you can substitute equal parts grapefruit juice, orange juice, lime juice, and white vinegar.)

• Salt

• Pepper

• Banana Leaves

• Cooking Twine

1) Score the top of the pork but to let the marinade soak through. You can also cut the meat into 2" wide strips to help the marinade cover the meat. Season with salt and pepper.

2) Blend the Achiote Paste and the orange juice until you have a nice paste consistency.

3) Put the pork into a large bowl or Ziploc bag and pour the marinade over the meat. Add the whole cloves of garlic and onion slices into the marinade and refrigerate. Let marinate for at least 2 hours, but ideally overnight.

4) Set your smoker to 275 degrees and set out your banana leaves on a large cookie sheet. Pull the pork out of the fridge and lay on top of the banana leaves. Wrap the pork tightly in the banana leaves until it is fully enclosed. Use the kitchen twine to tie the package tightly. (Optionally, you can put your meat directly into the smoker for an hour or two before you put it into the banana leaves if you want your pork to absorb more of the smoky flavor.)

5) Cook your pork until the internal temperature is 200 degrees. This took me about 6 hours and I kept my pork butt whole. If you cut the pork into strips it should cook faster.

6) Let the meat rest for 20-30 minutes, open the banana leaves and pull or chop your meat for serving. Serve on fresh tortillas (recipe below), with pickled onions (recipe below), hot sauce, cotija cheese, and cilantro & enjoy!

Pickled Red Onions

• 2 Red Onions sliced thinly

• 1 Cup Bitter/Sour Orange Juice (if you do not have access to this you can substitute equal parts grapefruit juice, orange juice, lime juice, and white vinegar.)

• 1/2 tsp Kosher or Sea Salt

• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper

• 1/4 tsp ground all spice

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 banana pepper (can substitute for jalapeno) roasted or charred

1) Roast the banana pepper over the grill until it is charred lightly.

2) Place the bitter orange juice (or the substitute) into mixing bowl. Add in the salt, pepper, and all spice and mix well.

3) Add in the red onions, bay leaves, and charred banana pepper to the mix. Toss well and let pickle at room temperature for 30 min to 2 hours.

4) Cover, refrigerate and serve. These should last well for up to 2 weeks!

Homemade Flour Tortillas

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, vegetable oil or other neutral flavored oil

• 1 cup warm water

1) Mix flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. Using spatula or wooden spoon, mix the dry ingredients until they are well combined.

2) Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in the oil and water. Mix until the ingredients are well incorporated. Continue to mix until the mixture forms a shaggy ball of dough.

3) Lightly flour a clean surface area and turn the dough out onto this area. Knead the dough for 2 minutes or until the dough is nice and smooth.

4) Divide the dough into 16 equal portions, turning to coat lightly with flour. Form each portion into a ball and flatten with your palm. Cover the dough balls and let them rest for at least15 minutes, up to 2 hours.

5) Heat a large pan or cooking top over medium-high heat. Using either a tortilla press or a rolling pin, roll/press each tortilla into a roughly 6" circle. You will want them to be fairly thin (almost translucent through light.)

6) Once the pan is hot, place one tortilla dough onto the cooktop and allow it to cook for approx. 1 minute (or until the bottom has light brown spots.) Flip to the other side and cook for about 20 seconds (or until the top has light brown spots.)

7) Repeat this process for all of the tortillas and store them in a tortilla warmer or Ziploc Bag to keep warm. I found a tortilla warmer at the Super G Mart but Amazon has a similar one here!

8) Let the tortillas cool and when you are ready to serve use a damp paper towel in your tortilla warmer and microwave the tortillas for 15-25 seconds.

These should keep for about a week if refrigerated. To freeze place a piece of parchment paper between them.

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