Red Pork Pozole Recipe

4.06 from 118 votes

Authentic Red Pork Pozole - a simple, earthy, rich and satisfying dish. Pork and hominy in a mildly spicy chile broth garnished with shredded cabbage, diced onion, sliced radish, and Mexican oregano finished with a squirt of lime juice.

Prep Time20

Cook Time2 30

Total Time2 50

Course: Dinner, Soup

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: ancho chile, guajillo chile, hominy, pork, pozole rojo, soup, stew

Servings: servings

Calories: 280kcal

Author: Douglas Cullen

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 garlic for the chile base
1 head garlic for the broth
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoon cooking oil for frying the chile base
3 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste 1 teaspoon for the pork broth and 2 teaspoon for the pot. This is the minimum. Add ½ teaspoon at a time, stir well, taste and repeat.

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, bay leaves and half an onion in a large pot and just cover with water (about 6 cups). Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt.
Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for 1½ to 2 hours, until the pork pulls apart easily with a fork. Pork leg cooks faster than shoulder, so start checking at 1 hour.
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, 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. 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. Don't drain it: the hominy's cooking water becomes part of the broth.

NEXT STEPS

Assembling Your Pozole

Now it is time to bring all of the ingredients together.
Pour the prepared chile base into the hominy and its cooking water.
Then add the pork broth and shredded pork.
Add 2 teaspoons of sea salt (the other teaspoon went into the pork broth).
Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Taste and adjust the salt, ½ teaspoon at a time. The chile flavor doesn't come through until the salt is right.

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!

Video

Notes

Optional:

Brown the pork first. Salt it, sear it in a little oil for 3 minutes per side, then add the water. It makes a deeper broth.
Use 2 cups of chicken stock in place of 2 cups of the water to enrich the flavor.
Add a pinch of cumin if you like to add some depth of flavor.
Prefer dried hominy? See "Using Dried Hominy" above the recipe card.
Make ahead: pozole tastes even better the next day. Chill it overnight, skim off the fat that sets on top, then reheat.

"Posole" or "pazole" are alternative spellings.

Nutrition