Pozole Rojo de Puerco
Red Pork Pozole soup is my favorite Mexican dish hands down. It’s simple, earthy, rich and satisfying. Pozole is pork or chicken – this recipe calls for pork – and hominy in a mildly spicy guajillo and ancho chile broth garnished with shredded cabbage or lettuce, diced onion, sliced radish, Mexican oregano and some arból chile for a little extra heat with a squirt of lime juice to bring it all together. The perfect dish.
Let Us Teach You How to Make Great Pozole
The Cooking Process
If you have never made pozole before it will help to visualize the process. Here’s a list of the main steps. The photos will walk you through the process.
Start with these steps:
These are done in separate pots at the same time.
- Prepare the chile base
- Cook the pork
- Cook the hominy
Then complete these steps:
- Combine the ingredients in 1 pot and simmer
- Prepare the garnishes
Then the best part:
- Serving and eating
Gather Your Ingredients
The main ingredients to make pozole are pork, hominy (maíz pozolero), ancho chiles, guajillo chiles, onion, garlic, and Mexican oregano and optional chiles de arból.
Cooking the Pork & Broth
Place the pork, a head of garlic a few bay leaves and half an onion in a large pot and just cover with water (about 6 cups). Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 45 minutes. The pork is done when you can easily pull it apart with your fingers. If the pork doesn’t pull apart easily after 45 minutes, cook for another 15 minutes.
When the pork is cooked remove it from the cooking liquid and set aside. Strain the broth into a bowl and set aside.
When the pork is cool to the touch, shred it with your fingers into 1″ long pieces.
Preparing the Chile Base
Remove the stems, seeds, and veins from the chiles and discard.
Place the chiles, 3 cloves of garlic, and ½ white onion in a pot and just cover with water (about 3 cups).
Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat. Allow the chiles to rest for 15 minutes to reconstitute them. Notice how the chiles have expanded and become pliable from absorbing the water.
Add the chiles, onion, garlic oregano, and soaking liquid to your blender. Blend for 1 minute until smooth. Do this in 2 batches.
Strain the blended chile base.
Press the pulp firmly with the back of the spoon to extract as much flavor as possible. Discard the chile pulp that remains.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat and pour in the chile base. This is called “seasoning.” It is an important step that adds a lot of flavor to your pozole.
Simmer for 30 minutes until the base has thickened and darkened in color. Looking good, isn’t it?
Cooking the Hominy
Drain the canned hominy and rinse. Put the rinsed hominy in a large pot and cover with 2″ of water. Simmer while you are preparing the pork and chile base.
Assembling the Pozole
Now it is time to bring all of the ingredients together. Add the chile base to the hominy.
Then add the pork broth and shredded pork. Add 3 teaspoons of sea salt. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Salt is Important
The recipe calls for 3 tsps. of salt to start. This is the minimum. We start with this quantity of salt so that you can adjust it to your preferences. Most likely you will want to add more. Add ½ tsp. at a time then stir well. Taste. Continue until the flavors pops and the level of saltiness is just right for you.
When the pozole is ready to serve it will have taken on a beautiful deep red color.
Preparing the Garnishes
While your pozole is simmering you will need to get all of the garnishes ready. The traditional garnishes are: shredded cabbage or lettuce, diced onion, slices of radish, oregano, limes and finely chopped dried chiles or chile powder. It is common to enjoy pozole with tostadas or corn tortillas too.
This Is How I Prepare My Perfect Bowl
Everyone has a unique way of personalizing their pozole. This is how I prepare mine. You need to start with the garnishes: shredded cabbage or lettuce, chopped onion, sliced radish, oregano, chopped spicy arból chile, and lime wedges. Then you add your preferred garnishes in your preferred quantity.
Let’s begin. I start with a naked bowl of pozole.
Add cabbage.
Add radish.
Add onion.
Add oregano.
And lastly, add chile de arból for some heat with a squirt of lime to tie all the flavors together.
Here It Is, My Perfect Bowl
What do you think!
Hungry yet? Provecho!
Note: “Posole” or “pazole” are alternative spellings used to describe this dish.
Red Pork Pozole Recipe
Equipment
- Large stock pot
- Soup pot
- 3 mixing bowls
- Cutting board
- Kitchen knife
- Blender
- Large strainer
- Kitchen Spoons
- 6 garnish bowls
Ingredients
Pozole
- 3 pounds boneless pork leg or pork shoulder
- 2 25 oz. cans of hominy drained and rinsed
- 5 ancho chiles
- 5 guajillo chiles
- ½ white onion
- 3 arból chiles optional, use if you want a spicier broth
- 3 cloves of garlic + 1 head of garlic
- 1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 teaspoon sea salt + to taste 3 tsp. is the minimum. Add ½ tsp. at a time then stir well. Taste and repeat until the desired flavor is reached.
Garnishes
- ½ head of cabbage shredded
- 1 large white onion diced
- 6 radishes sliced into half moons
- 6 limes quartered
- 4 tablespoon Mexican oregano
- 6 arból chiles finely chopped
- Salt as needed
Instructions
FIRST STEPS
- The first steps are done in separate pots at the same time.
Pork and Pork Broth
- Place the pork, head of garlic a few bay leaves and half an onion in a large pot and just cover with water (about 6 cups).
- Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 45 minutes. The pork is done when you can easily pull it apart with your fingers. If the pork doesn't pull apart easily after 45 minutes, cook for another 15 minutes.
- When the pork is cooked remove it from the cooking liquid and set aside. Strain the broth into a bowl and set aside.
- Shred the pork with your fingers into 1" long pieces.
Chile Base
- Remove the stems, seeds and veins from the chiles and discard.
- Place the chiles, clove of garlic, and ½ white onion in a pot and just cover with water (about 3 cups).
- Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat. Allow the chiles to rest for 15 minutes to reconstitute them. Notice how the chiles have expanded and become pliable from absorbing the water.
- Add the chiles, onion, garlic oregano, and soaking liquid to your blender. Blend for 1 minute until smooth.
- Strain the blended chile base. Discard the chile pulp that remains.
- In a pot, heat 3 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat and pour in the chile base. Reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Cook for 30 minutes until the base has thickened and darkened in color.
Hominy
- Drain the canned hominy and rinse.
- Put the rinsed hominy in a large pot and cover with 2" of water.
- Simmer while you are preparing the pork and chile base.
NEXT STEPS
Assembling Your Pozole
- Now it is time to bring all of the ingredients together.
- Pour the prepared chile base into the hominy.
- Then add the pork broth and shredded pork.
- Add 2 teaspoons of sea salt.
- Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Adjust the salt as necessary.
Prepare the Garnishes
- Shred the cabbage.
- Dice the onion.
- Slice the radish into half-moons.
- Quarter the limes.
- Finely chop the arból chile.
- Place each garnish into individual serving bowls.
FINAL STEPS
Serving
- Ladle the pozole into individual bowls to serve.
- Each person garnishes their pozole as desired.
- The final step is to enjoy!
Notes
- You can add a pinch of cumin to deepen the flavor of the broth.
- You can substitute 2 cups of water for 2 cups of chicken stock to enrich the flavor.
Kerry Young says
Try using dried hominy. You will never go back to canned. It’s like the difference between fresh and store bought corn tortillas. Recipe looks great otherwise
tony says
What a great recipe! Followed it exactly and it tasted like Mexico! Have some frozen for a second round! Thanks for sharing!
Crystal says
Delicious recipe.
Deborah Sweigart says
The best pozole ever! My whole family loves it! Takes patience but the outcome is awesome!
Chester P says
Flavor-wise, this came out terrific, albeit a couple of changes. The only option where I live is dried hominy which I soaked for 24-hours. Unfortunately the hominy still absorbed most of the liquid (rather quickly, too) so that I have to create more broth. If there are any leftovers, I recommend separating the hominy into a separate container.
I also don’t have access to buying dried peppers here, so I used what I managed to bring back from my last trip abroad. Thus, chipotle and arból instead of ancho and guajilo. The pozole tastes fantastic regardless.
donna johnson says
I found I needed to cook the pork shoulder a minimum of 3 hours. It was still tough after one hour. And then after all of that prep and cooking–it was meh…not great, not compared to the pozoles I have known and loved. The chile base tasted flat and was watery. It may have been cook error! Next time I’ll head out to one of the many Mexican restaurants in town–
richard bradford says
Agree with others about using dried hominy: it’s much better than canned. The broth aroma will convince you as well as the flavor. I braised the pork rather than using the stovetop because it’s easier and I think it works better. Also think adding some Arbol chilies is best.