PORK PIBIL
Pibil is a traditional Mexican slow-roasted pork dish that uses annatto, a paste made from the berries of the achiote tree, which gives this dish a beautiful deep red colour and an earthy peppery flavour. Annatto (also called achiote) is available online at souschef.co.uk.
Preparation 20 minutes, plus marinating Cooking about 3 hours 35 minutes Serves 6-8 1 TBSP ALLSPICE BERRIES
2 TSP CUMIN SEEDS
1 TSP BLACK PEPPERCORNS
1 ONION, ROUGHLY CHOPPED
4 GARLIC CLOVES
1 SCOTCH BONNET CHILLI, DESEEDED AND ROUGHLY CHOPPED 50G ANNATTO PASTE
100ML WHITE WINE VINEGAR
JUICE 4 ORANGES
1.6 KG BONELESS PORK SHOULDER
2 BAY LEAVES
CORN TORTILLAS, SOURED CREAM, AVOCADO AND CORIANDER, TO SERVE
FOR THE PICKLED RED ONIONS (OPTIONAL)
175ML WHITE WINE VINEGAR
3 TBSP CASTER SUGAR
1 TSP ALLSPICE BERRIES ½ TSP SALT
1 BAY LEAF
2 RED ONIONS, THINLY SLICED
1 Heat a frying pan and dry-fry the allspice berries, cumin seeds and peppercorns for a few minutes until fragrant. Transfer to a pestle and mortar or spice grinder and grind to a fine powder.
2 Put the spice powder in a food processor or blender with the onion, garlic, chilli and annatto paste and blitz until fine. Add the vinegar and the orange juice and blend until combined.
3 Trim the pork of skin and excess fat (leaving a thin layer). Cut the joint into four large pieces. Put into a non-metallic bowl and pour over the marinade. Add the bay leaves. Cover, chill and marinate for at least an hour or ideally overnight.
4 Preheat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan oven) gas mark 3. Transfer the pork and marinade to a large casserole. Heat on the hob until simmering. Cover and cook in the oven for 2½ hours, basting the pork occasionally.
5 Remove the lid, increase temperature to 180°C (160°C fan) gas mark 4 and cook for 1 hour until the pork is tender and the sauce thickened.
6 To make the pickled onions, put all the ingredients, apart from the onions, into a small pan. Heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in the onions. Leave for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until the onions have softened.
7 Remove the bay leaves from the pork. Using two forks, shred the pork in the sauce and serve with tortillas, soured cream, avocado, coriander and pickled onions.