Pozole Rojo

grimmsfoodietales
Jun 4
3 min read

Note: Made 8 servings

I did not have all of the exact ingredients this recipe calls for, so they were substituted with similar ingredients. But as the recipe's poster mentioned, "Please use the recipe as a guideline" the recipe does not need to be followed to a T. Some garlic was replaces with shallots, I used Chinese five spice instead of clove and star anise, and I could not find pork shoulder, so I got pork butt. Laziness also kept me from toasting the chilis.

Dinner March 19, 2025

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of Butter

3lbs boneless Pork Shoulder

16 cloves of Garlic, crushed

1 large White Onion, roughly chopped

6 large Chiles Guajillos, de-seeded and toasted

2 large Anchos, de-seeded and toasted

2 Chipotles , de-seeded and toasted

2 29oz-cans Hominy

2 teaspoons Dried Oregano

1 teaspoon Fresh Thyme

1 teaspoon Black Peppercorns

1 Whole Clove

1 Star Anise

2 Bay Leaves

12 cups Easy Stock (made with corn cobs)

Salt

Toppings Options:

chicharrones, avocado, crema, queso fresco, lettuce, cabbage, radish, onion, totopos, oregano, chile de árbol, lime

Directions:

Over medium-high heat, melt the butter in a Dutch oven and cook the pork until browned on all sides, for about 10 minutes. Then remove.

In the same pot, add the onion, garlic and ½ teaspoon of salt. Cook until the onion is tender and beginning to brown. Add the chiles, oregano, thyme, peppercorns, star anise, clove, and bay leaves, as well as 12 cups of stock and bring to a boil. Then add your pork back in - the liquid should come up about halfway on the sides of the pork - add water if needed. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer until the pork is tender and ready for shredding (usually about 2 to 2 and a half hours).

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Drain the liquid from the cans of hominy and spread the kernels out in a single layer on a sheet pan. Cook for 30 minutes, stir around halfway through.

When the pork is tender, remove from the pot, and shred it into small pieces. Remove the bay leaves and then blend all the remaining contents in the pot with an immersion blender until smooth - we’re going for a purée consistency here, no large chunks of chile.

Be really careful because the caldo will be very hot!

Add the roasted hominy to the pot and simmer it for about 15-20 minutes, until the flavors have melded and the corn is nice and plump. Then add the pork back in and season to taste with salt. Cook for another 5 or so minutes.

Final Notes:

Next time, keep the seeds from one chipotle to make it a little spicier. Removing all the seeds has a little bit of spice; it's funny though, it's only like a tickle in the back of your throat and nothing on your tongue.

Might have been nice to add some tomato paste.

The original recipe calls for water instead of corn stock. I really liked the homemade stock made from mostly corn cobs from last summer. They were annoying to save because my freezer is so small, but really did add a nice flavor to the soup. But if you don't want to bother, I'm sure any stock is better than water.

All toppings were pretty good and would get again:

Chicharrones - adds meatiness, salt, and crunchy texture: some pieces can still be hard if eaten shortly after adding to soup, gets spongy when it has absorbed broth

Avocado - adds creaminess to the bites with avocado

Mexican Crema - adds creaminess and a tang, but can seep through the whole bowl

Watermelon Radish - adds a crunch

Lime - adds a tang

Quick Pickled Watermelon Radish with Lime Juice - adds a crunch and a tang