Mexican pulled pork (conchinita pibil)

Nothing quite beats the fresh flavours of Mexico washed down with an ice-cold Corona (don’t forget the lime wedge in the neck of the bottle!).

This easy, flavoursome pulled pork dish takes some time, but most of it is hands-off, and with just five ingredients, preparing it couldn’t be simpler.

Originating from the Yucatan peninsula, the dish is traditionally made with Seville oranges and a paste made from a red seed called “annatto”.

You can buy small blocks of the paste (called “achiote”) from speciality stores such as www.marthasbackyard.co.nz, (mexifoods.co.nz) and ti opablo.co.nz.

Mexican pulled pork

Ingredients

1-5-3kg pork shoulder, bone removed, cut into 5X5cm chunks

1 packet of achiote paste (100g)

1T salt

1c freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2c freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions

Place the pork in a glass or stainless steel dish. Blitz the achiote paste, salt and juices in a blender and pour over the pork. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Heat the oven to 160C. Line a heavy bottomed casserole dish (with lid) with three layers of tin foil (slightly overhanging the sides), pour in the pork and marinade, and seal with the lid. Place in the oven for three hours. After three hours, check the pork – if it pulls apart easily with a fork, it is ready, if not, top up with extra water if necessary and return to the oven until tender.

Remove the pork from the liquid, pull apart with two forks so that the meat is shredded (“pulled”), and cover with enough of the marinating sauce to completely saturate the meat.

Serve with soft tortillas and/or rice, crumbled feta, fresh coriander leaves and lime wedges.

GISBORNE ORANGES

There are oranges and then there are Gisborne oranges. Our incomparable Navel oranges are loved throughout New Zealand. A winter orange, Navels are seedless, juicy, and easy to peel and segment. Our region has the perfect climate of sunny warm days and cool nights to be able to grow one of the world’s favourite fruits.

Our oranges are grown on trees we planted in 2003. We knew our soil comprised exceptionally fertile heavy silt loam, renowned in our district for growing just about anything, but it wasn’t until we started selling our oranges direct to customers that we realised just how remarkable they are. Flavoursome, juicy and bursting with goodness, they have to be tasted to be fully appreciated.

Our oranges store well at room temperature out of direct sunlight for a week, but will last much longer in the fridge where their vitamin content is undiminished.

Available from late June until early November.

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Mexican pulled pork (conchinita pibil)