How to Make Mexican Pozole Soup

Pozole takes at least three hours to prepare.

Pozole is a stew or soup from Mexico made mainly from pork and cooked with hominy, or dried corn kernels. Traditionally, the pig's head and backbone are used, with the pork head boiling first for up to three hours, but some recipes substitute pork shoulder. Pozole is topped with a variety of ingredients, depending on the region of Mexico in which it is made. Slices of lime, diced radishes, fresh tortillas, chopped onion and shredded cabbage are all commonly used toppings. Leave yourself at least three hours to make pozole--the pork and red chile sauce take time to prepare.

Things You'll Need

• Red chile sauce:
• 1 pot
• 5 dried large ancho chiles
• 5 dried large pasilla chiles
• Pozole:
• 2 large soup pots
• 1 1/2 lbs. pork shoulder
• 1 whole white onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 handful of thyme
• 1 tbsp. cumin
• 4 cups canned white hominy
• Chopped white onion
• Oregano
• Lime wedges

Instructions

1. Boil the dried ancho and pasilla chiles in water until they're soft, about 15 minutes. Place the chiles in a blender and puree until smooth. Set aside.

2. Place the pork shoulder in a pot, cover with water and season with salt. Bring the water to a boil.

3. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaves and thyme, and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, until the meat is tender.

4. Strain out the pork shoulder, onion and garlic. Chop the onion and garlic, and cut the pork shoulder into bite-size pieces.

5. Sautee the pork, onion and garlic with cumin and oregano in a second pot. Add the red chile sauce to the mixture, then the hominy, followed by the pork broth.

6. Serve with chopped onion, oregano and lime wedges.

Resources

• Rolly Brook: Pozole - Pork Soup