Mexico | Soups & Stews | Pork | Hominy | Stewing

Pozole

(Mexican pork & hominy stew)

Yield: 4-6 servings


INGREDIENTS PREP AMOUNT
Pork shoulder or roast 1 1/2 to 2 lbs
Hominy, canned or fresh rinsed 2-3 cups
Garlic whole 3-5 cloves
Water or stock 6 cups
Salt 2 tsp
 
Garnishes
Cabbage or iceberg lettuce shredded
Onion finely diced
Radishes thinly sliced
Limes cut in wedges
Avocado diced
Oregano, dried
Chile piquín ground

METHOD

Basic Steps:  Simmer → Shred → Simmer → Garnish
  1. Add pork, hominy, garlic, stock or water and salt to a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 1/2 to 2 hours until meat is very tender.
  2. Remove pot from heat, remove meat from pot and cool. Remove meat from bones and shred with your hands. Add meat back to the pot and simmer another 10-15 minutes. Adjust seasoning.
  3. Serve pozole with little bowls of your choice of garnishes so each dinner can garnish his or her own serving.

VARIATIONS

  • Pozole varies according to region, but the above recipe is the most basic and is known as pozole blanco, or white pozole. It is popular in Guadalajara.
  • Pozole Rojo (Red pozole): This variation is popular in Michoacán and Jalisco States. It is the same as the above recipe, but dried chilies are added. Remove the stems and seeds from 3-5 ancho or guajillo chilies. Mix them with a little of the hot liquid from the stewpot and let soak 20-30 minutes till soft. Puree in a blender and strain through a sieve into the stew in the last 30-45 minutes of cooking.
  • Pozole Verde (Green pozole): Popular in Guerrero State. Follow the above recipe. Toast 1 cup of shelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas). Puree seeds in a blender with 1-2 cups of canned or fresh cooked tomatillos, a chopped jalapeño, a couple of leaves of lettuce, a few sprigs of chopped cilantro and a little liquid from the stewpot. Strain through a sieve into a hot skillet and boil rapidly for about 5 minutes to cook down a little. Stir into the stew in the last 20-30 minutes of simmering.
  • Many recipes call for a mixture of chicken and pork. First simmer a whole chicken till meat is tender. Remove chicken, cool, remove meat and shred. Set aside. Continue with the above recipe, adding the pork to the chicken broth you just made. Add the shredded chicken back in along with the shredded pork.
  • Large batches of pozole are often made for special occasions, and the addition of a pig's head and pig's feet add immeasurably to both the flavor and texture of the final dish.
  • Sometimes a raw egg is stirred into the stew just before serving.

NOTES

  • Pozole is a special occasion dish found throughout Mexico, and restaurants called pozolerías specialize in it. This dish is a well known cure for hangovers and is often eaten in the wee hours of the morning as a preventive.
  • The word "pozole" is Nahuatl in origin and means "foam", as the Aztecs believed hominy resembled foamy froth.