Many of you know that I’m half Mexican and that my heritage and culture are huge parts of my upbringing. My mom immigrated to the United States with her parents when she was in elementary school, and while they acculturated themselves into life in America in a lot of ways, they’ve always maintained and passed down a lot of components from their roots. What you might not know is that Bonnie’s family has a lot of ties to Mexico too, and we both grew up eating a lot of traditional Mexican food in both of our households. Pozole Rojo de Puerco is one of her favorite comfort foods – it’s the food that I go grab from La Gloria’s when she’s sick, and makes a couple appearances in our kitchen each Fall/Winter too. Here’s how you make it!
Ingredients
the stock
- 4 lb pork roast (butt or shoulder)
- 24 cups of water
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 bulb of garlic
- 1/2 white onion
- salt and pepper to taste
the salsa
- 3 cups of water
- 8 dried guajillo peppers
- 6-10 dried chiles de arbol (this is where the spice comes from – remember: you can add spice, but you can’t take it out!)
- half bulb of garlic
- 1 1/2 tablespoons oregano
- 3 tablespoons salt
the rest
- 110oz can of hominy (or multiple cans in smaller increments, whatever the store has on hand)
- 1 head green cabbage
- 1 white onion
- several limes
- lots of radishes
- cilantro if desired
- tortilla chips (juanitas are our go-to)
Instructions
the broth
1. You’ll want to grab the largest stock pot you have (34 quart or larger is ideal). Cut the pork into ~4 inch pieces and add to the pot along with the garlic, onion, bay leaves and water along with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Cover your pot and bring to a boil on high; once you reach a rolling boil, reduce the heat to medium and continue to boil uncovered for 60-90 minutes or until your pork is tender and you’ve reached the depth of flavor you like!
the salsa
3. While you’re cooking up the broth, bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan.
4. In the meantime, begin to deseed and devein all of your peppers (Pro tip: kitchen gloves can come in handy here!); place in a medium-sized bowl. Add the garlic and onion to the bowl as well.
5. Once the water has reached a boil, pour over the peppers mixture in your bowl and cover with a kitchen towel for 30 minutes.
6. After the 30 minute soak has passed, pour the water/pepper mixture into a blender along with the oregano and salt. Blend until a smooth liquid has formed. Set aside.
back to the broth!
7. Using a spider wire strainer, remove all of the bits of pork, onion, garlic and bay leaves from the broth; place in a large bowl and set aside.
8. The garlic, onion and bay leaves have served their purpose – you can separate those out for the trash or compost. Break the pork down into bite-sized pieces and add back into the broth. If your roast has a bone(s), go ahead and throw back into the pot for now as well.
9. Pour the hominy into a strainer and rinse; then add to the broth along with the salsa mixture.
10. Bring back to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium heat and let the soup simmer for 20-30 minutes.
serving
We like to thinly slice the cabbage and radishes, dice the onion and cilantro, and cut the limes into wedges. Top your bowl with the mixture of vegetables to your liking along with the tortilla chips. You can top with additional hot sauce as well. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
This makes a huge batch! The soup freezes really well and can serve a crowd.