two racks of pork ribs on baking parchment in a roasting tray with a pot of salsa

Pibil-style pork ribs

Name: Pibil-style pork ribs
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 2 x 1kg racks pork ribs; oil for brushing; 150g achiote paste crumbled; 230ml freshly squeezed orange juice; 1-2 limes juiced to make 3 tbsp; 45g garlic cloves peeled; 1 habanero chilli trimmed; 1½ tsp mexican oregano

Edson Diaz-Fuentes

Published: June 23, 2021 at 11:21 AM

Save recipe

Serves 6

Easy

Total time: 2 hrs and 30 mins

+ overnight marinating

A star rating of 5 out of 5.1 ratingRate

loading...

Get 5 months for £5 when you subscribe today

Vibrant achiote paste is key to this recipe: its peppery and earthy flavour is perfect with pork. The marinade and the oven do all the work here, so hands-on time is minimal

Gluten free

Skip to ingredients

Alternatives

Complete the dish

Recipe extracted from Ciudad de México: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of Mexico City by Edson Diaz-Fuentes (£26, Hardie Grant). Try more Mexican recipes here, and read Edson's guide to Mexico City here. For more ribs recipes, check out our BBQ peanut pork ribs and lamb ribs recipes.

Edson says: "Cochinita pibil is the emblematic dish of Yucatán. The whole suckling pig, known as cochinita, 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 unique peppery, musky flavour that pairs beautifully with pork."

Ingredients

Nutrition

2 x 1kg racks pork ribs
oil

for brushing

PIBIL MARINADE

150g achiote paste

crumbled
230ml freshly squeezed orange juice
1-2 limes

juiced to make 3 tbsp
45g garlic cloves

peeled
1 habanero chilli

trimmed
1½ tsp mexican oregano

Nutrition: per serving

kcal410
fat29.5g
saturates10g
carbs13.3g
sugars3.5g
fibre0.6g
protein22.6g
salt2.7g

Method

step 1

Put all the ingredients for the marinade in a blender with ¾ tsp of salt and blitz until smooth. Put the ribs in a large non-reactive dish (glass or porcelain is best), cover with the marinade and chill overnight.
step 2

Remove the ribs from the fridge 1 hour before cooking. Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3 and line a roasting tin with a piece of foil large enough to enclose the ribs. Put a large sheet of baking paper on top of the foil, then put the ribs on top. Scrape over any left-over marinade and pour over 200ml of water. Cover with a second piece of baking paper, wrap the ribs in the paper and foil, and scrunch the edges of the foil to seal.
step 3

Bake the ribs for 2 hours, then open the foil parcel and check that the meat is cooked through and falling off the bone. Turn up the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 5. Lightly brush the ribs with some oil and bake for 20 minutes more with the parcel open until the top of the meat has a slight crust.
step 4

Serve the ribs straight from the oven, with black beans and salsa on the side, if you like.

Head this way for more easy Mexican recipes

Lamb Tacos with Tomato Salsa

Authors

Edson Diaz-Fuentes

Comments, questions and tips

Rate this recipe

What is your star rating out of 5?1 star out of 52 stars out of 53 stars out of 54 stars out of 55 stars out of 5

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

CommentQuestionTip

Overall rating

A star rating of 5 out of 5.1 rating

Want to see this content?

This page contains olivemagazine content provided by Google reCAPTCHA. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Google reCAPTCHA and its required purposes.

Accept and continue