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Red Chile Pork Pozole

I could eat pozole year round! But I especially love a big hot bowl of pozole during the fall and holiday season! it's a must for family gatherings and parties!
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours 37 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 17 minutes
Servings 8 Servings

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2-4 pounds pork butt/shoulder
  • 1 large white onion quartered
  • 1 head of garlic whole bulb
  • 12  large chile guajillo if you can't find guajillo, use California or ancho
  • 14 oz. cans Mexican style Hominy (maiz pozolero). I like alot of hominy, so I always add extra.
  • 1 TBS Mexican oregano
  • 2 Tsp Crushed chile de arbol or chile piquin or to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • Traditionally you would also add 1 or two trotters, pig's feet to cook with the pork. I did not add them this time.

Garnishes

  • Shredded green cabbage or lettuce
  • sliced radishes
  • Lemon or lime wedges
  • diced white onion
  • chopped cilantro optional
  • Red pepper flakes arbol, piquin or even some fresh chile serrano...or both!
  • Dried  Mexican oregano

Instructions

Directions

  • Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chile peppers, transfer to a sauce pan, cover with water and cook at a low boil for 10 minutes. Drain the water, transfer peppers to blender, add 1 cup of water and 1 1/2 tsps. of salt, blend until smooth, strain through wire mesh strainer and set aside. Note: If you feel comfortable toasting the dried chiles on a preheated comal(griddle), toast them for 20-30 seconds per side before softening them in water.
  • If you are adding the pig's feet, cook them first for 1 hour and then add the pork with onion, garlic and salt to taste.
  • Slice the pork into 1 1/2 to 2  inch pieces and transfer to a large pot. Cover w/ water(about 16 cups), add the quartered onion, whole bulb of garlic and about 1 tablespoon of kosher salt. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover partially and cook for a good 2 1/2 to 3 hours, skimming the top. When pork is really  tender and pulls apart easily, it's ready.
  • Using a slotted spoon, remove the garlic and onion from the stock. Return heat to medium.  Add the 2 cans of hominy with the water, 2 full teaspoons of  Mexican oregano(crushed),crushed chile de arbol, 1 cup of water, and the red chile puree. Stir well to combine. Bring to a boil, taste for salt. Cook for another 45 minutes.  
  • If you have time to let the pozole' cook for a longer period of time, then do so. I think it always taste better, the longer it cooks. Just make sure it has plenty of broth for serving up those big bowls!
  • Some of the traditional garnishes for Pozole are lettuce or cabbage(shredded),sliced radishes, diced white onion, oregano, crushed chile piquin and lemon or lime. Sometimes I like to add cilantro and minced chile serrano to mine.

Notes

To prepare the pozole with the dried maiz pelado like I used in the video:
Soak 14 ounces of  Maiz Mote Pelado overnight in plenty of water. Next day, drain water and cover with fresh water. Heat to medium heat. When it comes up to a boil, reduce to a simmer and continue cooking for 2 hours or until some of the maiz begins to bloom and tear open. Not all the maiz will bloom. When the maiz is tender, it's ready! Canned hominy has a slightly softer bite. 
If you are using a pork roast with the bone in, cut the bone away and cook it separately to prepare extra broth in case your pozole needs more towards the end of cooking time.