Skip to main content
Main

Cochinita Pibil

A slow‑roasted pork dish marinated in annatto, citrus, and spices.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 15 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Cochinita Pibil

12–16
Oven325 °F (160 °C)
Time4 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Make the marinade

  1. Place the annatto, cumin, peppercorns, allspice, and cloves in a spice grinder and process to a fine powder.

  2. Remove the seeds and veins from the habanero chiles and chop coarsely. If you want a hotter dish, leave some of the veins and seeds in.

  3. Process the orange juice, vinegar, chiles, salt, garlic, and the spice powder in a blender or food processor until liquefied. Add the lemon juice and tequila.

  4. Cut the pork into 2-inch (5 cm) chunks. Leave the fat on the meat to keep it moist while roasting; you can remove it after cooking if you wish.

  5. Place the pork in a large, self-sealing plastic bag with the marinade, seal, and turn to coat evenly. Refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours, turning occasionally.

Roast

  1. Heat the oven to 325 °F (160 °C). Dump the meat and the marinade into a roasting pan lined with banana leaves or foil, ensuring it is wrapped tightly so no steam escapes. If using banana leaves, an outer wrapping with foil will help seal in the steam.

  2. Bake for 4 hours. Open the packet carefully; the meat should shred easily with a fork.

Serve

  1. Serve over rice, or shred and serve with taco shells or tortillas.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

802Calories
39 gProtein
20 gFat
121 gCarbs

Counts 13 of 16 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Tortilla1 medium flour (45g)140
Banana1 medium (118g)105
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Annattonot in our table0
Seednot in our table0
Taco Shellnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Cumin + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Cumin + clovetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,306 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Allspice + orangetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together727 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pork butt
Long slow roasting breaks down connective tissue, leaving the meat tender and moist.
Annatto seeds
Gives the marinade its deep red colour and an earthy, mild flavour.
Habanero chiles
Provide the dish's heat, which can be adjusted by keeping or removing the seeds and veins.
Orange juice
Adds sweetness and acidity that balance the spices and help flavour the meat.
White vinegar
Its acidity brightens the marinade and helps tenderise the pork.
Garlic
Adds a pungent aroma that mellows and deepens during roasting.

The step that matters

Wrap the pork tightly so no steam escapes. The meat cooks partly in its own steam and marinade. A leaking packet lets moisture escape, so the pork can dry out and its connective tissue may not soften fully.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cumin, allspice, clove, vinegar, garlic, lemon, pork):

  1. Limefits better
  2. Avocadofits about as well
  3. Orangethe original
  4. Cherryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against cumin, allspice, clove, vinegar, garlic, lemon, pork. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Lemon SauceLemon Sauce236 recipesPork CakePork Cake107 recipesRice FrittersRice Fritters84 recipesRoast PorkRoast Pork82 recipes