Tikin Xic, pronounced "teekeen sheek" in Yucatec Mayan and meaning "dry fish", is a fish dish prepared in the Meso-American style. The fish is prepared whole then marinated with adobo

Adobo

Adobo is the immersion of raw food into a preparation, in the form of a stock , of different components, including paprika , oregano, salt, garlic, and vinegar — mixed according to the place of origin and the food with which it is intended to be used—primarily to preserve and enhance the flavor of...

 de Achiote

Achiote

Achiote is a shrub or small tree from the tropical region of the Americas. The name derives from the Nahuatl word for the shrub, achiotl. It is also known as Aploppas, and its original Tupi name urucu. It is cultivated there and in Southeast Asia, where it was introduced by the Spanish in the...

 and sour oranges then wrapped in a banana leaf and cooked in an earth oven

Earth oven

An earth oven or cooking pit is one of the most simple and long-used cooking structures . At its simplest, an earth oven is simply a pit in the ground used to trap heat and bake, smoke, or steam food...

 beneath a wood fire.

Preparation

Tikin Xic is prepared with a firm white fish, usually Grouper

Grouper

Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes.Not all serranids are called groupers; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name grouper is usually given to fish in one of two large genera: Epinephelus...

, Drum, or a local variety from the same families (for example Mero).

Modernization

Modern cooking methods have simplified the preparation at the risk of changing it. The banana leaf is usually steamed instead of buried for cooking. In some cases the fish is prepared ahead of time and served with an achiote sauce.