A popular dish from Yucatán (Mexico) is Poc Chuc. “Poc” means roasting in Mayan, and “Chuc”, means charcoal. The name doesn’t specify what food is being roasted, but if it just says Poc Chuc it will be charcoal roasted pork. The pork is marinated first, which in Yucatán is done with bitter orange juice (an ingredient used for almost every recipe there). The recipe below if almost the same as that for Octopus Poc Chuc, but this pork version is so delicious that it deserves its own post. When I’ve had Poc Chuc in restaurants in Yucatán, it was made with pork fillet, and quite tough and dry despite the use of a citrus marinade. As a solution I’ve prepared it with iberico secreto. Iberico is een breed of pigs from Spain with nicely marbled meat (similar to Wagyu beef). Secreto literally means ‘secret’, as this is supposedly a secret cut that only butchers know about and keep for themselves. It is a thin slab of meat from the shoulder region that is nicely marbled, even if it is from regular pork rather than Iberico. The marbling makes the meat very succulent and flavorful. By cooking the meat sous vide for 24 hours at 57C/135F, it will be very tender, moist, and pink. Thus making this poc chuc much better than anything I’ve had in Mexico. Like almost anything in Yucatán, this dish is served their with corn tortillas, allowing you to enjoy the meat as filling for tacos.

Ingredients

Serves 2 as a main course (6 to 8 tacos)

• 300 grams iberico secreto pork
• 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano (or regular oregano)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder knoflookpoeder
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• juice of 1 Seville orange, or 1 regular orange mixed with 1 lime
• 1/2 tsp salt

Garnishes

• 4 plum tomatoes
• fresh cilantro
• salt
• 1 red onion, quartered
• juice of 1 Seville orange, or 1 regular orange mixed with 1 lime
• refried beans
• 6-8 corn tortillas
• habanero hot sauce (recipe here)
• 1 avocado (optional)

Instructions

To make the marinade, combine 1 tsp Mexican oregano, 1 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp black peppercorns, and juice of 1 orange and 1 lime with 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl, then stir to mix.

Vacuum seal the pork with the marinade. This is easy to do with a chamber vacuum sealer. If you do not own such a machine, use a ziploc bag and the water displacement method instead. An external vacuum sealer such as a FoodSaver will not work.

Allow the pork to marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Then cook it sous vide for about 24 hours at 57C/135F. (Due to the acidic marinade there is no risk for a bad smell to develop, so scalding in hot water is not necessary in this case.)

Build a charcoal fire. Use it first to prepare the salsa and onions. Roast the tomatoes and quartered onion on the grill, preferably with a cover to develop a nice smoky flavor, until they are nicely charred.

This will give the tomatoes a lovely smoky flavor.

Place the tomatoes in a blender with a handful of fresh cilantro leaves and 1 teaspoon of salt.

Blend on low speed or use the pulse function to obtain a salsa that is not smooth but slightly chunky. You will be surprised how good a salsa is that only contains tomatoes, salt, cilantro (and some smoke from the grill).

The onions will remain crunchy, but also get a nice smoky flavor from the grill.

Chop the onions coarsely and marinate them in oranje and lime juice with salt. You could also add some fresh ground black pepper and freshly ground allspice if you like. If you own a chamber vacuum sealer, you can speed up the marinating process and get a better texture by vacuum sealing the onions with the marinade.

Wait with grilling the pork until the onions and salsa are ready, because it will cool off quickly. Take the pork out of the sous vide pouch, and pat it dry with paper towels.

Grill the pork very briefly on a very hot grill…

…until it is nicely seared on the inside, but without overcooking the inside.

Slice the pork into strips. Taste to adjust the seasoning with salt if needed. On the photo you can see how nicely pink and moist the meat is on the inside.

Serve the pork with the tomato salsa, marinated onions, habanero salsa, and corn tortillas. Optional: refried beans and avocado.