COOKLY.RECIPES
Cochinita Pibil, Pit-Cooked
Wilberth Uc Canche
Chef-owner, Cocina Xkanan, Merida, MX
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Cochinita Pibil, Pit-Cooked

16 h 40 min total70 min hands-onServes 8Medium

$2.99$6.99 in 99 cooks
Verified cooks
101
Nailed it
87%
Tier now
POPULAR
Next price
$6.99

99 more verified cooks and this recipe costs $6.99

POPULAR → TOP RATED

Achiote, sour orange and banana leaf, buried and cooked by the heat of stones.

WHAT YOU GET

  • The chef's hidden note — the technique no cookbook prints
  • Every component built from scratch, each with its own spec
  • Films on choosing and judging the produce before you buy it
  • Gross and net gram weights for every ingredient, per portion
  • Time and temperature at each stage, as run in the restaurant
  • A photo at every step that can go wrong
  • Substitutions for anything hard to find where you live
  • What usually goes wrong, and what to do about it

Yours for good once bought. Updates from the chef included.

BEFORE YOU BUY

Equipment
Deep roasting tin, Blender, Tongs, Gas flame or dry pan
Allergens
None declared
Method
24 steps · 20 photographed · 6 filmed
Components
3 made from scratch
Films
3, 17 min

3 RECIPES INSIDE THIS RECIPE

Each with its own weights, steps and timings

The sauce, the cure, the dough, the dressing — a restaurant makes these itself, and so will you. Every one below is a full sub-recipe: its own ingredient list, its own method, its own yield and shelf life. Nothing says «use shop-bought».

Recado rojo

Film

Achiote seed paste loosened with garlic, allspice, oregano, cumin and sour orange into a marinade.

Shop achiote paste is mostly cornflour and food colouring; ground from seed it gives both the colour and the earthy bitterness.

  • Achiote seeds000 g
  • Garlic000 g
Steps
7
Time
40 min
Hands-on
30 min

Makes 300 g · keeps 1 month refrigerated

Up to 1 month ahead

Weights and method unlock on purchase

Banana leaf parcel

Film

Leaves passed over a flame until they turn glossy and pliable, then used to line and cover the tin.

Straight from the pack they crack along the ribs and the juices escape; heated they fold like cloth and perfume the pork.

  • Banana leaves000 g
Steps
3
Time
15 min
Hands-on
15 min

Makes Lines one tin

Same day

Weights and method unlock on purchase

Cebolla encurtida

Red onion sliced thin, scalded briefly, then steeped in sour orange with habanero and oregano.

Raw onion is harsh and the fat needs cutting; the scald takes the bite out while keeping the crunch.

  • Red onion000 g
  • Sour orange000 g
Steps
4
Time
40 min
Hands-on
15 min

Makes 400 g · keeps 1 week refrigerated

At least 2 hours ahead, up to 1 week

Weights and method unlock on purchase
WEIGHED

INGREDIENTS

A taste of the list · the rest locked

A few ingredients to show you what the dish is built on. Every one on the full list carries a gross and a net weight per portion, and a note on what you can swap it for where you live.

  • Pork shoulder000 g
  • Achiote paste000 g
  • Sour orange000 g
  • Banana leaves000 g
  • Garlic000 g
The full list, weighed, unlocks on purchase

WATCH BEFORE YOU SHOP

3 films · 17 min

Most of what goes wrong is decided at the counter, before you cook anything. These are filmed by the chef: what to buy, how to tell it is good, and how to set your own kitchen up for it.

CHOOSING7:00

Achiote, sour orange and where to find banana leaves

TECHNIQUE4:00

Softening leaves over a flame

KIT6:00

Approximating a pib in a domestic oven

METHOD

STEP BY STEP — 24 STEPS

20 photographed · 6 filmed

Written the way a restaurant writes a technical card: one operation per step, each with its own time and temperature. 20 of the 24 carry a photo of what it should look like at that moment, and 6 carry a short clip for the parts a still cannot show.

Hardest step: sealing the parcel so the juices stay in — step 14 of 24.

  1. 01

    Read the whole method before you start, then weigh everything out. Every timing below assumes the next ingredient is already within reach.

    Free preview
  2. 02
  3. 03
  4. 04
  5. 05
  6. 06
  7. + 18 more steps, timed and photographed

WHERE IT USUALLY GOES WRONG

3 things Wilberth Uc Canche watches for every service. You can read what they are right now — the answer to each one comes with the recipe.

  1. 01

    Mixing lime, orange and grapefruit for sour orange

    What to do about it
  2. 02

    Marinating overnight, not two hours

    What to do about it
  3. 03

    Shredding in the cooking juices, never dry

    What to do about it
The chef's hidden note

The recado rojo ratio and the acid substitute that behaves like sour orange when you cannot get it.

Written by Wilberth Uc Canche. Visible only to people who bought this recipe.

Read it — $2.99

NOTES FROM THE KITCHENS

101 verified cooks · 87% said it worked

Only people who bought the recipe and showed the dish they made can leave a note. Nobody is paid for it.

PAY $2.99 ONCE

101 people cooked it, 87% got it right, and that is the entire reason it costs $2.99 rather than nothing. In 99 more cooks the price becomes $6.99. Your copy never does.

One payment · Yours for good · No subscription