Pozole; Pork and Hominy Stew

 

Bowl of pozole garnished with queso cotija, cilantro and lime juice

Pozole is a traditional Mexican dish, which features lots of pork, chile peppers and hominy. Hominy is corn that has been treated with the mineral lime, to remove the outer hull, AKA the pericap. It sounds a bit weird, but think of hominy being like tiny little dumplings. They add a bit of texture to this classic comfort food. Hominy is also called pozole.

I saw pozole soup featured on an episode of Dinner's, Drive-in's and Dive's and thought it looked pretty tasty. Now that I'm on a Mexican cooking streak, at least for this month, I thought I'd try making homemade pozole.

 

A plethora of Mexican ingredients from Mex Grocer

Pozole Soup or Stew
Depending on how much liquid is added to the recipe, the pozole can be a soup or stew. I was worried about all the chile peppers that were added to the recipe, so I added a bit more liquid to make mine like a soup. Any kind of pork can be used in this recipe; stew meat or pork shoulder or even thick cut pork chops. My husband had some thick cut pork chops in the refrigerator, which he donated for the pozole. As long as he was being fed, I don't think he really cared what the pork chops were being used for.

 

Pozole AKA hominy

Interesting Ingredients
Most of the ingredients for the pozole should be available at local grocery stores. You may have to hunt around a bit, my local stores all have an ethnic food section, where they lump together all the Asian and Latin American ingredients. You can also purchase the ingredients from an online retailer such as Mex Grocer. I got the hominy, chile peppers, chipolte and queso cotija from Mex Grocer.

Pork cubed and waiting to be added to pozole

Ingredients for Pozole

• 29 ounce can hominy
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 pounds pork - cut into 1 to 2 inch cubes 
• 1 medium onion - diced
• 4 cloves garlic - minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes - any kind of chunky tomato sauce can be used too
• 4-6 cups chicken, beef or vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon toasted Mexican oregano
• 2 toasted bay leaves
• 2 toasted, dried chile peppers - I used one chile negro and one chile pasilla in my pozole
• 1-2 chipolte peppers in adobo sauce - chopped fine

Chile pasilla, on the left, and chile negro on the right

Directions for Pozole

1. Drain the water from the can of hominy, and place the hominy in a medium sauce pan.
2. Fill the sauce pan with fresh water and bring to a boil.
3. Turn the heat down to low, and let the hominy simmer for 30-45 minutes.
4. Add the oil to a large stock pot, or dutch oven placed over medium heat.
5. Add the pork, and cook until lightly browned on all sides.
6. Remove the cooked pork to a bowl.
7. Add the onions to the pan, and let cook in the pork fat/vegetable oil mixture until they begin to turn translucent.
8. Stir the garlic into the onions and cook for another minute.
9. Add the pork back into the pan.
10. Stir in the cumin and allspice.
11. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and chicken broth.
12. Lightly dry toast the Mexican oregano and bay leaves in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the toasted herbs to the pozole.
13. Lightly dry toast the dried chile peppers in a frying pan over medium heat. Remove the toasted peppers to a plate, and let cool. When cool enough to handle, remove the seeds and inner membrane. Roughly tear the toasted chile peppers into small pieces, and stir into the pozole.
14. Stir the chopped chipolte into the pozole.
15. Bring the pozole to a boil, reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 1/2 hour.
16. Strain the hominy, once it has finished simmering, and stir it into the pozole.
17. Let the pozole simmer for another 1/2 hour.
18. Remove the bay leaves, and serve the pozole with the garnishes of your choice.

Chipolte peppers in adobo sauce

Pozole Embellishments
Pozole should be served with a tray full of ingredients, so that each person can add the garnishes of their choice to their individual serving. My favorite combination is a bit of crumbled queso cotija, chopped cilantro leaves and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

 

Pork browning, hominy simmering, herbs toasting

• Crumbled queso cotija - a semi-hard, salty Mexican cheese, which is a bit like feta.
• Shredded cabbage
• Chopped onions
• Fresh cilantro leaves
• Lime wedges
• Sliced radishes
• Chili powder and/or hot sauce - only if you like REALLY spicy pozole. I thought the pozole had a little bit more heat than I'm used to, but I am trying to get a bit more adventurous.

Lime wedges, fresh cilantro leaves, queso cotija

 

Pot full of pozole, simmering on the stove

Have you made pozole before? I'd like to hear about your method for making this classic Mexican dish.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Cuisine Diva

Comments

[Albany]

Pozole doesn't need all that stuff. It's supposed to be very simple. One thing that you are doing wrong is not adding pork neck. That is what gives it that delicious pozole flavor. You can add pieces of clean meat, but it needs pork neck to be real pozole.

[Lynn Smythe AKA the Cuisine Diva]

Thanks for the comments. Cooking is creative, no need to follow a recipe exactly, make it however you want. I LOVE my version of pozole - delicious!