History
The name comes from Yucatec Maya póok, to toast, and chúuk, charcoal. Poc chuc is pork, preferably loin, sliced thin, marinated in bitter orange, garlic and pepper and grilled over charcoal, then served with rice, pickled red onion, frijoles colados, avocado, radish and a tomato salsa called chiltomate. Neither pork nor bitter orange is native to Yucatán, so the dish is a mestizo one; the Yucatecan historian Gonzalo Navarrete dates it to the mid-20th century at the restaurant Los Almendros in Ticul. In Cancún, Lonchería El Pocito serves it among its Yucatecan home dishes.
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Common allergens: Pork
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 800 g pork loin, sliced 5 mm thick
- 200 ml bitter orange juice (or 120 ml orange and 80 ml lime)
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 red onions, halved
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 habanero chile
- Cooked rice and black beans to serve
Method
- Mix the bitter orange juice, garlic, pepper and salt, add the pork and marinate in the fridge for 2 hours.
- Light a charcoal grill, or heat a griddle pan until very hot.
- Grill the onion halves and whole tomatoes until charred, about 10 minutes, turning them.
- Chop the tomatoes with a little of the habanero and salt to make chiltomate; slice the onions and dress them with a spoonful of the marinade.
- Grill the pork slices for 2 to 3 minutes a side, until browned at the edges.
- Serve the pork with rice, beans, the charred onions and the chiltomate.
Tip from the editors. Slice the pork thin and grill it fast over high heat; thick slices dry out before they take on the charcoal flavour.
Where to eat poc chuc
Poc chuc in Cancún
Lonchería El Pocito ★ 4.4
Lonchería El Pocito on Calle 31 Norte in Cancún is a chalkboard-menu lunch counter for Yucatecan queso relleno, papadzules, poc chuc and panuchos.
OrderQueso relleno in tomato broth, papadzules, and the black-bean and pork tamal.
Why locals goA lunch counter on Calle 31 Norte, off the hotel strip, where locals on their break read the chalkboard menu to see what is left.
TipClosed Tuesdays, and lunch crowds clear the chalkboard, so arrive early; it opened in 1988 as La Cabañita.
Poc chuc in Mérida
Los Almendros ★ 4.0
Los Almendros on Parque de la Mejorada in Mérida runs the Yucatecan canon since 1972, claiming credit for putting poc chuc on the city's restaurant maps.
SignaturePoc chuc, Papadzules, Queso relleno, Sopa de lima
La Tradición ★ 4.3
La Tradición on Calle 60 in Mérida runs chef David Cetina's Yucatecan recados, poc chuc and queso relleno from a family kitchen of two decades.
SignaturePoc chuc, Queso relleno, Sopa de lima
La Chaya Maya ★ 4.4
La Chaya Maya on Santa Lucía in Mérida pours tortillas on a clay comal in the dining room and runs sopa de lima, poc chuc and panuchos seven days a week.
SignatureSopa de lima, Poc chuc, Papadzules, Cochinita pibil
More cities are in research. Want poc chuc covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.