Pibil-style pork ribs recipe
Cochinita pibil is the emblematic dish of Yucatán. Cochinita, the whole suckling pig, is doused in achiote marinade, wrapped in banana leaves and slow-roasted in a pit. Achiote paste, a mix of crushed annatto seeds and spices, has a deep, vibrant red colour and a unique peppery, musky flavour which pairs beautifully with pork. In Yucatán, sour oranges are used for the marinade. Try this with the bitter juices of Seville oranges, or mix together orange and lime juice. This marinade works particularly well with spare ribs.
A word of warning: the habanero chillies used in the marinade and the xni’ pek salsa give these spare ribs a good kick.
Tips:
- The cook and prep time does not include timings for the black bean and salsa sides.
- The recipes for the sides will make more than you need to serve with the ribs, so keep for another day.
- You'll also need to marinate the ribs overnight.
- If you like, you can make the ribs and serve with your own accompaniments – just skip to the relevant ingredients list and recipe.
Ingredients
For the cebolla morada (makes a 1litre/34fl oz jar)- 200 ml lime juice
- 100 ml orange juice
- 150 ml cider vinegar
- 20 g caster (superfine) sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp Mexican oregano
- 500 g red onions, halved and finely sliced
- 1 large red onion, finely chopped
- 2 –4 habanero or Scotch bonnet chillies, finely chopped
- 50 g cebolla morada, plus 30ml (2 tablespoons) of the pickling juice
- 100 ml orange juice
- 1 x ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 40 ml extra-virgin olive oil
- 20 g coriander (cilantro), chopped
- 500 g dried black beans
- 2.2 l water
- 6 –8 dried avocado leaves, depending on the size
- 1 onion, quartered
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 10 g fine sea salt
- 2 x 1 kg (2lb 4oz) racks of pork ribs
- 1 amount of oil, for brushing
- 150 g achiote paste, crumbled
- 230 ml freshly-squeezed orange juice
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 45 g garlic cloves
- 1 habanero chilli, trimmed
- 1.5 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1 x ¾ teaspoon salt
Details
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Recipe Type: Pork
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 15 mins
- Cooking Time: 140 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
For the cebello morada
- You will need a 1-litre (34fl oz) glass jar.
- In a jug (pitcher), combine the lime juice, orange juice, cider vinegar, sugar and salt. Stir well until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Add the oregano and stir once again.
- Place some of the onion slices into the jar and pour over some of the citrus brine. Press down on the onions with a wooden spoon to compress them. Add more onion slices and citrus brine, and press down again. Continue in this way until the onions are well compacted and the jar is full.
- Make sure the onions remain submerged and leave to pickle for 48 hours in the refrigerator, shaking the jar every so often. After this time, they’ll be ready to use, but they will keep in the refrigerator for up to a month.
For the xni’ pek
- Place the finely chopped red onion, chillies and cebolla morada in a bowl and add the pickling juice, orange juice and salt. Mix well until the salt has dissolved.
- Whisk in the olive oil and leave the salsa to infuse for 10 minutes.
- Taste to check seasoning and balance and adjust accordingly with more juice or chillies if needed. This salsa should be spicy – very spicy! – but with a fragrant and citrusy flavour. Add the coriander just before serving.
For the black beans
- Soak the black beans in water overnight. The next morning, wash and drain them twice.
- To cook the beans, place them in a large cooking pot or saucepan. Cover with the 2.5 litres (85fl oz/10 cups) cold water and bring to the boil. Boil for 10 minutes, removing the white foam that forms on the surface.
- Meanwhile, dry-toast the avocado leaves in a frying pan (skillet) over a medium heat for 10 seconds on each side.
- In a food processor, blend together the onion quarters, garlic cloves and oil. Add this mixture to the beans, along with the avocado leaves.
- Reduce the heat to a bare simmer and cook for at least 2 hours – but ideally longer – until the beans are soft and the liquid becomes thick. Stir the beans often so they don’t catch at the bottom of the pot. If the beans become dry, add extra water during the cooking process and adjust the seasoning accordingly.
- Add the fine sea salt at the end and taste to check seasoning and balance.
- Remove the avocado leaves and leave to cool.
For the ribs
- Place all the ingredients for the marinade (everything except the ribs and oil) in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Place the ribs in a large non-reactive container – a glass or porcelain dish is best. Cover with the marinade and leave in the refrigerator overnight.
- Remove the ribs from the refrigerator about 1 hour before cooking them.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/325°F/gas mark 3 and line a roasting tray (pan) with a large piece of tin (aluminum) foil, big enough to enclose the ribs. Place a large sheet of baking parchment on top of the foil, then place the ribs on the baking parchment. Scrape out any marinade left in the dish and pour it over the top of the ribs, along with 200ml (7fl oz) of water. Cover with a second piece of baking parchment and wrap the ribs in the paper and foil. Crumple the edges of the foil to seal.
- Place in the oven and bake for 2 hours, then open the foil and paper and check that the meat is well cooked and is falling off the bone.
- Increase the oven temperature to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 5. Lightly brush the ribs with oil and bake for a further 20 minutes, in the open parcel, until the top of the meat has a slight crust.
- Serve straight from the oven, with black beans and xni’ pek salsa on the side.
This recipe is from Ciudad de Mexico: Recipes and Stories from the heart of Mexico City by Edson Diaz Fuentes (Hardie Grant, £26). Photography: Robert Billington and Adam Wiseman.
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