StewsMedium

Pollo en Escabeche Oriental (Yucatecan Pickled Chicken)

Name: Pollo en Escabeche Oriental (Yucatecan Pickled Chicken)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 90 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1200 g Whole chicken cortado en piezas; 150 ml White vinegar; 4 Chilli xcatic (o guero); 10 Allspice; 3 Red onion; 5 g Oregano yucateco; 4 cloves Garlic; 2 Carrot; 40 ml Olive oil; 10 g Salt

90 min (30 prep + 60 cook) Medium 6 servings Yucatan

Edmond Bojalil

Recetas Mexas

Published: 20 Mar 2026 · Updated: 23 Mar 2026

Chicken marinated in a pickled red onion, vinegar and spice escabeche from Valladolid, Yucatan.

About this recipe

Escabeche oriental is a Yucatecan dish originating from the city of Valladolid, known as the Sultana of the East. It consists of cooked chicken bathed in a pickle of red onion, cane vinegar, whole spices and xcatic chillies. A fresh, acidic and aromatic dish served at room temperature, ideal for the heat of the Peninsula.

History & Origin

Escabeche oriental is one of the most refined dishes of Yucatecan cuisine and bears the surname oriental because it comes from Valladolid, the most important city in the east of the Yucatan Peninsula. This recipe is a masterful example of the fusion between Spanish and Mayan cooking. Escabeche as a vinegar preservation technique arrived in Mexico with the Spanish conquistadors, who in turn had learnt it from the Arabs during the centuries of Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. The Yucatecans adopted the technique but transformed it with local ingredients: the regional red onion, xcatic chillies (a mild, aromatic yellow chilli exclusive to Yucatan) and spices such as allspice and Yucatecan oregano. In Valladolid, escabeche oriental is prepared for patron saint festivals, weddings and family celebrations. Each Valladolid family guards its own recipe, but the essential elements are always the same: tender chicken, red onion lightly cooked but still crunchy, vinegar providing acidity, and xcatic chilli imparting a gentle heat and unique perfume. It is served at room temperature or slightly chilled, making it the perfect dish for the hot tropical climate.

Estimated cost

£8.50

Total cost

£1.42

Per serving

* Approximate prices based on UK supermarkets

Nutritional information per serving

360

Calories

30g

Protein

22g

Carbohydrates

16g

Fat

Fibre

520mg

Sodium

* Approximate values. May vary depending on ingredients used.

Method

1
Cook the pollo in water with salt, garlic, onion and oregano for 35 minutes until this tender pero not deshaga. Set aside the piezas and the stock.
💡 No cocines demasiado the pollo; should mantenerse firme for the escabeche.
2
Cut the onions moradas in aros gruesos and the carrots into rounds. Roast the chillies xcatic in a comal (flat griddle) until it suavicen.
💡 If not consigues chilli xcatic, the chilli guero or banana pepper es the mejor alternativa.
3
Heat the olive oil and sofrie the onions moradas with the carrots over medium-high heat until empiecen a suavizarse pero mantengan algo of crujido, some 5 minutes.
💡 Las onions not deben be completely blandas.
4
Anade the vinegar, a little chicken stock, the allspice, the oregano and salt. Cook 10 minutes for integrar flavours.
💡 Ajusta the vinegar a tu gusto; should ser notablemente acido.
5
Place the piezas of pollo in a fuente honda, pour the escabeche hot with the onions and carrots for encima, and anade the chillies xcatic.
6
Leave to cool at room temperature and serve. El escabeche mejora si refrigera varias hours or overnight.
💡 Se serve at room temperature or cold, nunca hot.