Pozole
Red Hominy Soup with Pork and Chicken
Pozole is a party soup: a huge pot of large puffed corn kernels in a rich broth with pork or chicken, coloured and warmed by a purée of dried chillies and served with a table of garnishes. It takes most of a day and feeds twelve.
Pozole is a staple soup of Mexico City menus.
Both recipes cook dried or prepared hominy for hours, make a meat broth, add a purée of dried chillies and serve with radishes, lettuce, lime, oregano and tostadas. One uses pork shanks, trotters and shoulder; the other chicken, or chicken and pork. One purées ancho chillies; the other ancho and guajillo with cumin and cloves.
Ingredients
For the pozole
- 450 g dried hominy (pozole corn), soaked overnight and drained, or 3 x 820 g tins of cooked hominy, drained
- 1 head of garlic, halved across
- 1.4 kg bone-in chicken pieces
- 1.4 kg pork shoulder, in large chunks
- 1 white onion, halved
- 5 sprigs of coriander
- 2 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
For the chilli purée
- 2 ancho chillies, stemmed and seeded
- 3 guajillo chillies, stemmed and seeded
- 3 tbsp chopped white onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- A pinch of ground cumin
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
To serve
- Lime wedges
- Radishes, thinly sliced
- Shredded cabbage or lettuce
- Chopped white onion
- Dried oregano
- Ground dried chilli
- Tostadas
Method
- Cook the hominy Put the soaked hominy and the garlic in a large pot with about 4 litres of water. Bring to the boil, skim, then simmer for 4 to 5 hours, until the kernels are tender and have burst open. Top up with hot water as needed. If using tinned hominy, skip this step.
- Cook the meat In a second pot cover the pork with 3 litres of water, add the onion, coriander and salt, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add the chicken for the last 35 minutes. When cool enough to handle, shred the meat, discarding the skin and bones, and keep the broth.
- Combine Add the strained meat broth to the hominy. If using tinned hominy, add it now with 500 ml of water. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Make the purée Soak the chillies in hot water for 10 minutes and drain. Blend them with the onion, garlic, cumin, cloves, salt and about 120 ml of the soaking water until smooth. Fry the purée in the oil for 6 to 8 minutes until thick and darker. Stir into the pot.
- Simmer and serve Add the shredded meat and simmer for 25 minutes. The pork must be tender and the chicken cooked through with no pink. Season, then serve in deep bowls with the garnishes on the table.
Food safety
Check that the chicken and pork are fully cooked, with no pink. Dried hominy must be cooked until tender. Cool leftovers quickly and reheat until piping hot.
Skim well for a clear broth.
Pozole is better the next day.