FreshMealsMagic: Pollo Pibil Sous Vide

-


It has long been on my list to make that amazing slow roasted pork dish of the yucatan: cochinita pibil.    Soak pork or chicken in a marinade made with a base of brick red achiote, garlic and sour orange juice, boosted with powerful spices like cinnamon, allspice, and clove.


After an overnight marinade, wrap everything up in a banana leaf package, and let it roast for hours.  Serve with pickled onions augmented with the smoldering habanero chile.

Or in my case, toss it in a plastic bag, vacuum seal and put in a 146 degree waterbath for a two hours.  I was worried about several factors going into this:

Would the fresh garlic create that plastic-y, overly garlicy flavor that it is known to do?  The answer is: nope!

Would the flavor of the banana leaf transfer and would I like the flavor?  The flavor of the banana leaf did come through, and without any surprises! 

Chicken isn't pork, and its leanness doesn't really let you do any magic with longer cook times to achieve great results.  Would the chicken work?  The chicken was unbelievably juicy and tender, but I don't think this resulted in a superior flavor or texture.  I would much rather have traditional slow roasting over fire or even in an oven.  And I even finished the chicken in the oven afterwards.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Escolar: The World's Most Dangerous Fish

-
Image
Escolar is the most controversial fish that you are likely to find in your fish market. This firm, white fleshed fish has an incredibly rich flavor, often described as 'succulent', or a fattier version of swordfish. Why so rich? It turns out that Escolar's diet contains food high in wax esters. Wax esters that are really difficult for Escolar to digest. As a result, these esters build up in the fish. Where is the controversy in a buttery, delicious fish? I would say it is in the laxative like effect it has on a certain percentage of the population. Well, a 'laxative like effect' is how my fish monger described it. Others would describe it as closer to diahhrea. An expert would call it 'keriorrhoea'. Literally translated, it means 'flow of wax'. Oily orange droplets pouring out your pooper.  Keriorrhoea occurs because the wax esters in the flesh of the fish pool up in your intestine. Some reports of Escolar related illness include cramp...
Read more

White Tuna Explained (Escolar vs. Albacore)

-
Image
I am not the first person on the Internet to tell you that White Tuna is a confusing order at the sushi bar.  While there are a host of fish that can be mislabeled as White Tuna, the two most common ones are the Albacore Tuna and our dreaded and delicious friend, the Escolar . What Is White Tuna? I worked really hard to source both fish in a raw form so that I could bring you pictures.  And by 'worked really hard', I really mean: I would keep going to the same fishmonger and ask them if they had Escolar and Albacore.  Escolar isn't very difficult to find but Albacore can be problematic.  Finally, I found some at the Lobster Place  in Chelsea Market. So, let's take a quick look:
Read more

Roasted Garlic Powder: Perfect For Sous Vide Cooking

-
Image
I have always used garlic powder.  I am pretty heavy handed with it.  It used to be my salt.  After starting to cook sous vide, that love has been rekindled.  This is because most advice around sous vide discourages the use of fresh garlic.  According to baldwind : "Finally, raw garlic produces very pronounced and unpleasant results and powdered garlic (in very small quantities) should be substituted." After reading that, I set out to make garlic powder.  It is ridiculously simple, and like all things culinary, when you can control it, you can make it better.  In this case, you have three major wins: Before you begin making garlic powder, you can control the quality of the garlic.  Like most spices you buy, it is hard to determine original quality and how long it has been deteriorating on a grocery shelf or storeroom. Roasting.  You can bring the noise by roasting the garlic.  When you compare the aroma and flavor of your homemade...
Read more