Pork Pozole Rojo
Pozole is one of Mexico’s oldest and most popular stews and is often eaten at celebrations. This pozole rojo (red) variety of the stew is spiced up with ancho and guajillo chillies for a smoky rich flavour. Traditionally a variety of white corn called white maize/hominy corn is used. You can buy this in cans from world food stores, online or in some supermarkets and it’s well worth using, but you can use chickpeas (or sweetcorn) if you can’t find any. It’s a soupy stew and the garnishes are an important part of the dish to add texture and body – feel free to mix them up a bit. This is a rich and smoky pozole – if you want it spicy add a couple of arbol chillies or some dried chilli flakes. It’s also great with chicken instead of pork.
Method
Season the pork with salt. Heat the oil in a large casserole over a medium–high heat and brown the pork in batches (adding a little more oil if needed).
When all the pork is browned, add the minced garlic, oregano and cumin. Cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add 1.6 litres of boiling water, the whole garlic, onion halves, bay leaves (you may want to wrap and tie these in a muslin cloth) and 1 tsp salt. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface. Lower the heat, cover and simmer gently for 1 hour, occasionally skimming the surface to remove any scum and adding more water if needed.
Meanwhile, cut off the stems from the dried chillies and remove the seeds and veins. Put them in a dry pan over a medium heat and toast for a few minutes until fragrant. Put the chillies in a bowl, cover with hot water and leave to soak for 25-30 minutes. Drain, reserving some of the soaking water. Roughly chop the chillies.
After the hour of simmering use a slotted spoon to remove the onion, bay leaves and whole garlic from the pot. Discard the bay leaves and put the onion and garlic into a blender along with the tomatoes, rehydrated chillies, a small ladle of water from the casserole and a good splash of the chilli soaking water (first check that it’s not bitter). Blend until smooth and then add to the casserole. Add the hominy corn and ½ – 1 tsp of salt, stir well, part cover and simmer for 40-50 minutes or until the pork is tender. Skim off any extra fat and check the seasoning.
Spoon the stew into warmed bowls. Garnish with shredded lettuce, radishes, avocado, diced onion, and coriander leaves. Sprinkle with a little oregano. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing and tortilla chips or tostada on the side.
Ingredients
- For the Pork Pozole
- 2-3 tbsp oil
- 900-1kg boneless pork shoulder, trimmed, cut into 4-5cm cubes
- 8 cloves of garlic, peeled, 4 minced, 4 left whole
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 white onion, peeled and cut in half
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp dried (Mexican) oregano, plus extra to serve
- 3-4 fresh ripe plum or vine tomatoes, deseeded
- sea salt
- 6 dried whole guajillo chillies
- 3-4 dried whole large ancho chillies
- 1 x 822g (460g drained) tin of precooked white pozole/hominy corn, rinsed and drained
- For the Garnish
- ¼ iceberg lettuce or white cabbage, finely shredded
- 1 avocado, stoned and chopped
- 4 radishes, thinly sliced
- ¼ onion, finely diced
- handful of coriander leaves
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- tortilla chips or tostada