Pollo Pibil, is a very special age-old dish hailing out of Quintana Roo, in Mexico’s Yucutan region.
What distiguishes this dish from your average chicken dish is the pibil cooking technique.
Meats are marinated, wrapped in banana leaves and placed in pibs; roasting pits buried into the earth and layered with stones and pieces of wood. This wonderful method of cooking the meat in the earth, gives this dish it's classic rustic, earthy flavor while the banana leaves infuse the meats with a lovely freshness, keeping the meat moist, juicy and tender.
Now perched here in my urban kitchen, it's not likely I'm going to be heading to the backyard with a shovel to dig a pit, it's time to take what's traditional and work it to fit my itsy bitsy kitchen.
The challenge is this; cooking the meat in an earthen pit, allows for excess moisture to escape our from the banana leaves into the surrounding earth pit. So what one is left with is all the tenderness without the meat resting in a soupy base.
To counter this, I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve. First, I'm going to sear the chicken over hight haet to get it all brown and crispy getting those lovely browning and flavor molecules to do their thing. Helloo, Maillard reactions!
After that, I'm reducing the amount of liquid traditionally used by half so not to end up in a soupy mess.
There are a couple of things that make pollo pibil pollo pibil and not pollo whatever and that's the nutty, pungent akin to sweet pepper flavor of the achiote/annatto paste which is quite literally a brick colored brick!I merrily buy my brick from amazon.com - God bless!
The other is the overnight marination in a sea of citrus. Bitter oranges traditionally but a wowzah combination of lime, orange, grapefruit juices and vinegar does the trick very nicely. All that citrus is 'cooking' the meat, breaking down those proteins as the chicken sits and of course infuses it with a ton of flavor.
Banana leaves can be purchased frozen in any Asian market and defrosted before use. Easy peasy.
So now that you know the why, the what and the who, it's off to the kitchen without further ado!
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Gather the ingredients,
Banana leaves, cut into 12" widths (frozen but defrosted if fresh is not available), 1 qty 3-4 lbs chicken cut into 8 pieces (set the neck and bony bits aside for stock),
Marinade: 2 tbs of achiote paste, 1 tbs chopped garlic, 1 tsp Mexican Oregano, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground allspice, ½ tbs salt, 1 tsp ground black pepper + bitter orange juices (as follows)
Bitter orange juice or combined juices: 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup grapefruit juice, 1/2 cup lime juice & ¼ cup white or apple cider vinegar
2 yellow onions, to yield 2 cups sliced, 3 large Plum tomatoes, sliced, 4 tbs melted, unsalted butter & 3 tbs oil to fry chicken
To serve - Corn tortillas/chopped red onion/chopped cilantro leaves/red pepper flakes sprinkled & clarified butter ‘ghee’ to pan fry tortillas
Marinade: Place the achiote paste, juices, garlic, oregano, cumin, allspice, salt and pepper in the food processor and puree until smooth.
Rinse chicken pieces and pat dry. Place in a zip lock bag or Pyrex bowl and pour the marinade on top. Close or seal the bag or container and place in the refrigerator for 4 to 24 hours. Toss the chicken once or twice to allow the chicken to evenly marinate. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator.
Onions: Peel, discards ends, slice ¼” thick and set aside.
Tomatoes: Remove woody top, slice into ¼” thick circles and set aside.
Chicken: Remove from the marinade, wipe dry on kitchen paper towels and set aside. Reserve the remaining marinade.
Banana leaves: Wash several pieces with tap water. Dry with kitchen paper towels.
In a large chicken fryer, heat the oil until fuming. Place the chicken in a single layer, not touching. Fry the chicken in batches if necessary.
Sear the chicken on high heat until crispy and golden brown. Flip over and fry until golden brown on both sides. Remove to a platter reserving pan juices.
Use a oven safe Dutch oven or earthenware pot (like Emile Henry brazier). Layer as many pieces of banana leaves at the bottom and on the sides of the pot to line completely. Using a pastry brush liberally apply melted butter to the leaves.
Spread the onion on the banana leaves. Spread the tomatoes on top.
Place the chicken pieces on top in a single layer and pour the pan juices & 1 cup only of the reserved marinade. Drizzle with melted butter.
Cover the pot with 1-2 pieces of banana leaves tucking in place around the chicken to cover completely.
Cover the whole baking dish with a tight fitting lid and bake for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. At the end, the chicken should be completely tender, fall apart from the bones.
Remove the baking dish from the oven and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the chicken to a platter. You may serve whole chicken pieces or shred the meat using 2 forks. Taste and adjust salt & add some cayenne pepper if you wish. Stir to combine.
Drizzle some of the sauce over the chicken and remove the remaining to a bowl, serving it at the table. Serve with hot corn tortillas pan-fried in ghee and fixings.
Recipe for
POLLO PIBIL
Banana leaves, cut into 12" widths (frozen but defrosted if fresh is not available)
1 qty 3-4 lbs chicken cut into 8 pieces (set the neck and bony bits aside for stock)
2 tbs of achiote paste
1 tbs chopped garlic
1 tsp Mexican Oregano
1 tsp ground cumin,
1 tsp ground allspice
½ tbs salt
1 tsp black pepper, ground
2 yellow onions, to yield 2 cups sliced
3 large Plum tomatoes, sliced
1 tsp dried epazote
4 tbs melted, unsalted butter
3 tbs oil to fry chicken
Bitter orange juice or combined juices:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup grapefruit juice
1/2 cup lime juice
¼ cup white or apple cider vinegar
To serve -
Corn tortillas/chopped red onion/chopped cilantro leaves/red pepper flakes sprinkled
Clarified butter ‘ghee’ to pan fry tortillas
Preparation:
Marinade: Place the achiote paste, juices, garlic, oregano, cumin, allspice, salt and pepper in the food processor and puree until smooth.
Rinse chicken pieces and pat dry. Place in a zip lock bag or Pyrex bowl and pour the marinade on top. Close or seal the bag or container and place in the refrigerator for 4 to 24 hours. Toss the chicken once or twice to allow the chicken to evenly marinate. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator.
Onions: Peel, discards ends, slice ¼” thick and set aside.
Tomatoes: Remove woody top, slice into ¼” thick circles and set aside.
Chicken: Remove from the marinade, wipe dry on kitchen paper towels and set aside. Reserve the remaining marinade.
Banana leaves: Wash several pieces with tap water. Dry with kitchen paper towels.
Method:
In a large chicken fryer, heat the oil until fuming. Place the chicken in a single layer, not touching. Fry the chicken in batches if necessary.
Sear the chicken on high heat until crispy and golden brown. Flip over and fry until golden brown on both sides. Remove to a platter reserving pan juices.
Use a oven safe Dutch oven or earthenware pot (like Emile Henry brazier). Layer as many pieces of banana leaves at the bottom and on the sides of the pot to line completely. Using a pastry brush liberally apply melted butter to the leaves.
Spread the onion on the banana leaves. Spread the tomatoes on top.
Place the chicken pieces on top in a single layer and pour the pan juices & 1 cup only of the reserved marinade. Drizzle with melted butter.
Cover the pot with 1-2 pieces of banana leaves tucking in place around the chicken to cover completely.
Cover the whole baking dish with a tight fitting lid and bake for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. At the end, the chicken should be completely tender, fall apart from the bones.
Remove the baking dish from the oven and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the chicken to a platter. You may serve whole chicken pieces or shred the meat using 2 forks. Taste and adjust salt & add some cayenne pepper if you wish. Stir to combine.
Drizzle some of the sauce over the chicken and remove the remaining to a bowl, serving it at the table.
Serve with hot corn tortillas pan-fried in ghee and fixings.
Enjoy!
