In the movie Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Johnny Depp's character – a corrupt C.I.A. agent – is at a restaurant eating his favourite meal puerco pibil when he declares that it's the best he's ever tasted and proceeds into the kitchen to shoot the chef to 'level the playing field'. It's a bizarre moment, and makes you wonder how good that puerco must have been. The original recipe for this came from the extras section on the bonus disc, but I've adapted it somewhat. I use pork belly instead of 'pork butt', and I've modified the quantities a little.

Sometimes known as cochinita pibil, puerco pibil is a slow cooked pork dish featuring tequila, lemon juice and annatto seeds. The annatto seeds give the dish its characteristic vibrant red hue and a deep, earthy and slightly sharp flavour. Other recipes for this dish might use achiote paste, which is a premixed seasoning, but I think you get a better result if you mix the spices fresh. These rich spices combined with a hefty provision of garlic, black pepper and vinegar make this a truly bold-flavoured dish.

Puerco pibil is traditionally cooked in banana leaves but you can omit those if you can't get a hold of any. I'm using pork belly for this recipe, and I buy it with the skin on and then remove it so I can cut it into pieces and include it in the dish separately from the chunks of pork. This adds a nice textural contrast to the stew. The skin also contains a lot of flavour and its gelatin content helps to thicken and enrich the sauce. You can ask your butcher to remove the skin for you, which will save you a job.

Puerco Pibil Recipe

Serves 5

Ingredients

  • 2 kg boneless pork belly, skin removed and reserved
  • 4 tbsp annatto seeds
  • 1 tbsp black peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 12 cloves
  • 10 allspice
  • 200 ml orange juice
  • 200 ml cider vinegar
  • 6 lemons, juice of
  • 100 ml good quality tequila
  • 2 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
  • 3 tsp salt
  • 2 red chillies, finely chopped
  • 10 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 large banana leaves, if available
  • 3 green chillies

Method

  1. Place a frying pan over a medium heat and add the cumin seeds. Cook, stirring frequently, until they're lightly toasted, then set aside and allow to cool.

  2. Place the annatto seeds, toasted cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves and allspice in a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder, then put into a large bowl or container in which you'll marinate the pork.

  3. Cut the pork belly into approximately 2 inch pieces. Cut the skin into larger pieces, 3 or 4 inches across. Add the pork belly and the skin along with all of the remaining ingredients, except the green chillies, to the spice mix and stir well. Ensure the pork is really well covered in the marinade. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 24 hours, or up to 72 hours. Give it a stir a few times during that period to help the flavours infuse.

  4. Heat an oven to 120C. Line a casserole dish or roasting tray with banana leaves (if available). Add the pork and place on the stove on a medium heat. Bring it up to temperature until it's almost simmering, then cover with a lid or kitchen foil and place in the oven and cook for around 5 hours until the pork is very tender and falling apart. Remove from the oven. It's likely that the sauce will be quite thin – if you'd like it to be thicker, you could pour off the sauce in a pan, bring to the boil and reduce until thickened to your liking. If you have time, the pibil will benefit from sitting overnight before reheating to be eaten the following day.

  5. Scatter the green chillies over, and serve with fluffy white rice.