Pollo Pibil (Playa del Carmen Street Style)
The tender, brick-red chicken I found steaming in hotel pans at a street market in Playa del Carmen: bone-in chicken marinated in achiote and sour orange, wrapped in banana leaves and slow-cooked until it pulls apart in its own juices. Pile it into tortillas, tortas or panuchos.
Notes
Starter recipe; adjust to taste. This is the chicken cousin of cochinita pibil. Traditionally it's cooked in a pib, an underground pit oven, which is where the name comes from. Banana leaves add a subtle grassy flavor and keep it moist; if you can't find them, use parchment and foil. It's even better the next day.
References
Inspired by a street-market stall in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo.
RECIPE CARD
Pollo Pibil (Playa del Carmen Street Style)
Yield: 6–8 servings | Time: 3 hours, plus overnight marinade
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Ingredients
Recado marinade
- 3.5 oz recado rojo (achiote paste)
- ¾ cup sour orange juice (or ½ cup orange juice + ¼ cup lime juice)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 whole allspice berries, ground
- 2 tsp kosher salt
Chicken
- 4 lb bone-in chicken (thighs, legs and breasts with skin removed)
- 2 large banana leaves, thawed if frozen, briefly passed over a flame to soften
- 1 white onion, thickly sliced
- 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 Tbsp lard
To serve
- Habanero pickled red onions
- Warm corn tortillas or crusty bolillo rolls
- Black refried beans, avocado, lime wedges
Instructions
- Make the marinade. Blend the achiote paste, sour orange juice, garlic, cumin, oregano, pepper, allspice and salt until smooth.
- Marinate overnight. Slash the thicker pieces of chicken to the bone. Coat everything in the marinade and refrigerate 8–24 hours.
- Line the pan. Heat the oven to 325°F. Line a deep roasting pan or Dutch oven with banana leaves, letting them hang over the sides.
- Layer. Scatter half the onion and tomato in the pan. Add the chicken and all the marinade, then top with the rest of the onion and tomato and dot with lard. Pour the stock around the edges.
- Wrap and cook. Fold the banana leaves over the top, cover tightly with a lid or foil, and cook 2 to 2½ hours, until the meat pulls easily from the bone.
- Pull. Lift out the chicken, remove the bones, and pull it into big, juicy chunks like the street stalls do, not fine shreds. Spoon the red pan juices back over the top to keep it moist.
- Serve. Hold warm in its juices. Serve in tortillas or tortas with pickled habanero onions, beans, avocado and lime.
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