This is by far one of my all time favorite dishes and it’s hit or miss in most places. It tends to be either mediocre or mind blowing and it does take a bit of time to make properly.
For those who don’t know, it’s a soup that’s typically made with Pork, Dried peppers and Hominy. In Mexico, damn near every family has a recipe that’s passed down and there are multiple variations of the dish. In no way do I think mine is the best but I’m happy with the results.
Do yourself a favor and read the notes at the bottom before you go to the store and try to do your shopping at the nearest Latino grocery store. You’ll get better products at a much better price.
Mise
- Knife and board
- Large pot (an 8-quart)
- Cast Iron pan
- Blender
- Saute pan
Ingredients
- 3-4 pound slab of pork shoulder (see notes)
- 1-2 bags of dried peppers (see notes)
- 2-3 cans of hominy (see notes)
- A white onion minced
- Mexican oregano
Method of Preparation
- De-seed and de-stem the peppers. You won’t get all the seeds but get as many as possible.
- De-bone the pork. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect, a little meat left on it is fine. Put the bond in the large pot, cover it with water and bring it to a simmer.
- Cut the pork into decent-sized chunks, about half the size of a fist. Cover with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Lightly toast the dried peppers until they barely start to smoke. Add em to the pot with the pork bone and let it cook for about an hour.
- Once you have a good stock going, remove the peppers with a slotted spoon and puree in the blender (you’ll need to add some of the stock as well)
- Heat up the cast iron pan and sear off the pork before adding it to the stock. You don’t have to cook it all the way, just get a good browning on the outside.
- After you sear the pork, cook the minced white onion in the same pan so it pulls the flavor and then add it to the stock.
- Add the hominy and taste the soup. It’s going to taste like shit at first but, it’s going to let you know how much of the pepper puree to add back to soup.
- Add a little, stir, taste and adjust. Please note, even if it starts off spicy, the hominy does absorb a bit of it.
- Let it simmer for at least two hours before serving. You want the pork to be fork tender and not chewy and you want the hominy to get saturated with the flavor.
- Some people go overboard with the garnish and want avocado, radish and the whole works. I like some fresh-squeezed lime juice and cilantro. You go with what you think is best.
Notes
- The pork bone is kinda important since it adds a layer to the stock so make sure you buy pork with the bone.
- There are a bunch of different kinds of dried peppers available and I’m not set on which ones to use. Some people like it really spicy, I like mine with a bit more body so I use Chipotle peppers to start and use one or two other varieties each time I make it.
- For those who don’t know, Hominy is corn kernels that have been dried then soaked in an alkali solution. The kernel puffs up and if you fry it, you get corn nuts, if you grind it to flour, you get Masa which is what tortillas are made from. It sounds weird but people have been doing it for thousands of years since corn was domesticated. And no, you can not use fresh or fucking canned corn as a substitution for hominy.
- Mexican oregano is similar to Italian but I really don’t suggest substitutions since the Mexican variety tends to be a bit more earthy and robust. Plus, it’s super cheap at most Mexican grocery stores.
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