Pozole Rojo
Pozole rojo (red pozole) is one fo the two types of stews, the other one being pozole verde (green pozole).
Pozole means “hominy” in Nahuatl, this wonderful concoction from Mexico is not by chance of ritual significance for native Mexicans. It is typically made from hominy, with meat (mostly pork), and can be seasoned and garnished with shredded cabbage, chile peppers, onion, garlic, radishes and avocado.
Ingredients
- 250 gr pork ribs
- 250 gr pork loin or shoulder
- 5 dried guajillo peppers
- 5 dried pasilla chiles, or 3 dried ancho chiles
- 2 medium onions
- 500 gr hominy
- 5 gr limestone powdered
- 3 garlic cloves whole or minced
- 1 tablespoon of oregano
- ⅛ cabbage finely chopped
- 1 avocado in cubes
- 1 lettuce finely chopped
- 8 small radishes chopped
- 2 serrano peppers chopped
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 5 limes wedged
- 1 handful of coriander finely chopped
- 24 tostadas (dried corn tortillas)
Preparation
Boil 3 liters of water in a big heavy pot. When it starts to boil, add some salt, the pork meat, hominy and limestone. Cut one onion in 4 pieces and the garlic and add them as well. Let it all boil for 1½ or 2 hours. You will know its ready when the pork falls right of the bone and the hominy is soft.
Turn off the pork and optionally clean the extra fat foam that forms when it starts cooling down.
Fish the pork out of the broth and pull the meat apart with a fork separating the bones from the meat. Add the meat back to the broth and dispose of the rest.
Separate a portion of broth, about a quart of a liter will do, and clean the dry chiles by removing the seeds and their veins. Put the chiles in the broth with the oregano in a blender and blend it until it turns smooth, let it sit there for 5 minutes so the ingredients rehydrate. Some people fry the sauce for 10 minutes before returning it to the main pot, it’s up to you. It’s also a good idea to try the resulting stew.
In a large bowl without mixing (or using many different containers) add the chopped cabbage, lettuce, half the onion, radish, avocado and tomatoes.
The chopped coriander and serrano peppers go in another small container with the rest of the onion and the juice of two or three limes. Serve the rest of the limes separately.
Bring the pozole to a boil again before you are ready to serve. Place all the garnishes and 3 to 4 tostadas per person as optional plates in front of the the bowls. This recipe will serve 8 hungry stew lovers.