Pozole Rojo Recipe


This delicious Mexican hominy stew (pozole) is a rich, brothy soup made with pork or chicken, hominy, and red chiles.  Pile your bowl with toppings like shredded cabbage, radishes, onions, cilantro, lime and your favorite hot picante sauce.


prep time: 30 minutes

cook time: 2 hours

serving: 12


Ingredients:

                 3 lbs. pork shoulder or whole chicken (preferably with bone) cut into 2 or 3 inch pieces

                 4 ounces dried guajillo or ancho chiles, or a combination of both

                 1 large can hominy (drained and rinsed) 

                 8 each fresh garlic cloves

                 3 each bay leaves

                 1 tsp. ground cumin

                 2 tbsp. dry oregano

                 salt & pepper to taste

Garnishes:

                 1/2 small cabbage, thinly sliced

                 1 bunch cilantro chopped

                 ½ white onion chopped

                 2 avocadoes, diced

                 4 limes quartered 

                 1 bunch red radishes, thinly sliced

                 1 pkg. tostada shells or tortilla chips

                 Your favorite hot sauce or chile de arbol


Method:

1. Boil 5 quarts water.


2. Fill a large 10 – 12 qt. stock pot with 5 quarts of water set on high heat and bring to a boil.


3. Heat the chiles with 3 cups hot water. Remove and discard the stems, seeds, and large veins from the chili pods. Heat cast iron pan on medium heat and heat chili pods for a couple minutes or until soft. Do not burn them. While chiles are heating, bring a medium pot with 3 cups of water to a simmer and remove from heat. Once the chiles have softened, add the chiles to the pot of hot water and cover. Let chiles soak in the water for 15 to 20 minutes.


4. Add pork or chicken meat and spices to a large pot of boiling water including bay leaves, cumin, oregano, salt & pepper. Once the meat has cooked halfway about 1 hour later, skim all excess fat and add hominy. Cook for another hour or until meat is cook all the way and falls off the bone.


5. Preparing the red sauce: Puree in a blender the chilies with 2 cups of water or so, add 1 tsp of salt. Strain the red sauce through a sieve, discarding the tough bits of the chilies.


5. Add red chili sauce to the pot of pozole and hominy: Lower the heat to just a simmer and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. The resulting soup should be rather brothy, as you will be adding a lot of garnishes (toppings).


Arrange all garnishes (toppings) in bowls on the center of the table and serve pozole soup also in bowls. Let your guests or family members pick and choose which garnishes they would like on their Pozole.

Serve with your choice of tostada shells or tortilla chips and enjoy!