Roasted garlic and some good old fashioned smoke pushes it way over the top. This is pulled pork Mexican style. If you are thinking about a taco party it’s not easy to do better than this. Seriously. I smile when I make this. Because I know everyone will love it. Because I know I will love it.
Cochinita pibil – easy and delicious
And because it’s almost impossible to screw up. Make it with pork shoulder. Pork shoulder is probably the most forgiving cut of meat going. When was the last time you had really bad pulled pork? If you search for cochinita pibil, you’ll find recipes ranging from near impossible to slow cooker wanna be’s. This one sits in the middle. Mix up a few ingredients in the blender. Marinate some meat. Wrap it up in parchment. Put it in a pan. Toss it all on the grill and walk away. Come back when it’s fork tender and shred it. Drizzle the juices over the meat. Eat. Smile. Perfect. It’s not particularly hard but it’s not throw it into a crockpot and hope it will turn out either. And the results are way closer to the near impossible end of the spectrum.
A couple tricks
Achiote paste is a compromise here. Big simplification. No sourcing annatto seeds. No toasting and grinding spices. Not super-authentic maybe but achiote paste comes from the Yucatan so it’s not like I’m pushing Hamburger Helper here either. Parchment is the other cop-out. No banana leaves. Cochinita pibil relies on smoke and steam. Parchment is an easy way to do just that. But these are minor variations from the truly authentic. And the flavours won’t suffer. It is still absolutely awesome pulled pork. Cochinita pibil. Well seasoned. Smoky. Delicious.