A recent trip to the Yucatan made me fall in love with this dish. Traditionally cooked low and slow in a Pib (an earth oven), here’s my version using the mighty Matheson Cookware.
Ingredients
- 4 lb boneless pork shoulder
- Salt
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- ¼ cup achiote seeds
- 2 tbsp black peppercorns
- 2 sticks Ceylon Cinnamon
- 1 tbsp Cumin seeds
- 6 garlic cloves
- Juice of 1 grapefruit
- Juice of 2 navel oranges
- Juice of 1 lime
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 1 white onion, sliced
- 1 large tomato, sliced
- 2 banana leaves
For Serving
- Corn Tortillas
- Pickled red onion
- Habanero hot sauce
Directions
- Score the fat cap of the pork with a knife. Season pork shoulder generously with salt.
- Heat oil in the 10-inch Matheson Cookware pan over medium-high. Add in achiote seeds, cinnamon, black peppercorns, cumin, and garlic. Cook until fragrant and garlic is beginning to caramelize, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer contents of the pan, including the oil, to the bowl of the mortar and pestle. Grind with the Matheson Kitchen Stick until a paste forms. Add the citrus juices and vinegar to the paste and stir.
- Place pork in a Ziploc bag. Add the spice mixture and massage into the pork. Let marinate overnight, or minimum three hours.
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Lay out two banana leaves perpendicular to each other.
- Remove the pork from the bag and place it in the center of the banana leaves, fat side up. Layer sliced onion and tomatoes over pork.
- Wrap up like a burrito and secure the leaves with kitchen twine.
- Pour the remaining marinade in the bottom of the pan. Place the wrapped pork in the pan and close with the lid.
- Roast for 4 hours.
- Remove from oven. Unwrap pork and discard the banana leaves. Shred meat with two forks and mix with rendered fat and drippings in the pan.
- Heat tortillas and create tacos garnished with pickled red onion and habanero salsa.
