Recipes » Chicken » Pollo Pabil

Ingredients

• Ten Servings
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• 2 1/2 chicken whole breasts- each ½ breast cut in half for 10 pieces
• 10 chicken thighs
• ½ cup achiote paste
• 12 tbsp (2/3 cup) bitter orange juice (or 6 tbsp lime, 12 tbsp grapefruit, ½ tsp orange zest)
• 1 tsp salt
• 10 12x18 rectangle of banana leaves
• 6 tbsp oil
• 2 onions, sliced thin
• 8 banana peppers, roasted, peeled, deveined, cut into strips, or more, or chipotle sauce with roasted onions, garlic, salt chicken stock.
• 3 tomatoes, cored and sliced in rounds (20 rounds), or a can of roasted tomatoes, drained, sliced.
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• Escabeche: Makes 1 ½ cups :
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• 1 red onion, sliced 1/8 thick
• ¼ tsp black peppercorns
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp oregano
• 3 cloves garlic, halved
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
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• Marinate chicken:
• achiote, 2/3rds of the juice, salt. Overnight. Chill remaining juice.

Preparation

Banana leaves:
Defrost, cut off the long hard side where attached to the vein. Cut into 12x18 rectangles. Roll loosely and steam 20-30 minutes until very soft and pliable.
Cut 20 18 inch lengths of string.

Sauté pan, oil, onions, until browned, 10 minutes. Bowl with all the juices, add the banana pepper strips.

Lay out leaves shiny-side up. Brush with evoo.
¼ breast, 1 thigh in center. Top with some onion-pepper mix, and 2 rounds of tomatoes.

Sprinkle with ½ tbsp remaining bitter orange, then some fat from the onion/peppers, then some of the remaining marinate.

Fold each package: short side to meet, NOT overlapping; and then fold over twice; tight seam. Fold other 2 sides, overlapping in center, then use 2 strings to tie snugly.

Bamboo Steamer: 1½ inch water: medium to low heat for 30-35 minutes.

Serve with Escabeche de Cebolla
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Escabeche de Cebolla
Onion in saucepan with salted water to cover, boil, time ONE MINUTE, remove and drain.

Mortar pepper and cumin coarsely, add to saucepan, with remaining stuff. Pour enough water to barely cover the onions, boil, on med. Heat, THREE MINUTES. Remove, from heat, store.