Nothing like Pozole for a special occasion like birthdays, Christmas, and of course Mexican Independence Day. It comes in a variety of options. Red, white, green, pork, chicken, purple or white hominy. Traditional for you may not be for me. Every family has their recipe and preference. Everyone has a relative that claims theirs is the best. One thing is certain. This soup has been a staple dish since before the Spanish stepped foot on the Americas. This is not a quick meal and it takes a couple hours of love, watching meticulously as the liquid goodness simmers in a cauldron . The Maize (corn) is a sacred plant to the Aztecs and we thank them for giving us such a gift. The laborious work of soaking the dried maize (hominy) with Calcium hydroxide until it peels it’s outer layer, which then you then rinse off. This process called nixtamalization is one I’ve never done, nor felt the need to since I can buy my hominy (red or white) in a can. This green pozole however uses mote pelado (nixtamalized dried hominy). It comes in a bag, usually imported from Peru and is much meatier and ready to boil. I usually buy the brand Amazonas from my local latin market, but I’ve seen online stores sell other brands. Yes, yes I know it’s not the same corn from Mexico, but remember this is Mesa Bohemia- just go with it!
Ingredients:
2 lbs of Mote Pelado
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
6 lbs of mixed pork of your choice - 2 inch cubed shoulder, spine, riblets, hock, feet, etc.
Salt
2 Bay leaves
For green sauce:
2 lbs of tomatillos, husked
5-6 chiles poblanos
2-3 chiles Serrano or jalapeños
4 garlic cloves
One small handful of cilantro
1 tsp of cumin
1/4 cup of toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
2 Tbs of green achiote paste (optional)
Salt and pepper
For toppings and accompaniments:
Shredded green cabbage
Chopped onion
Radishes
Hot sauce of your choice
Limes
Tostadas
In a large stockpot soak mote for a couple hours. Dump the water and add a new batch enough to cover the kernels at least double the amount. Add the onion, garlic and bag leave. Do not add salt yet— very important as it will not allow the mote to cook. The next step depends how old the mote is that will determine how long it’s going to need to boil until it’s ready. Mine took 2 1/2 hours on medium. Once they slightly pop (see image) remove the mote with a spider strainer onto a large container. Discard the garlic and onions. Save the liquid the mote was cooking in since you will be adding the meat to this.
Boil about 4 quarts of plain water. Place your meat in a large bowl or container, or separate them into two. Pour the hot water onto the meat. Let that soak for about 10 mins. This process helps deblood (is that a word) the meat and helps prevent protein froth from accumulating on top of the soup. Strain and add the meat, bay leaves and salt to the large stockpot you were cooking the mote in. Cook on a low medium boil. Scoop out any of those frothy proteins we were so trying to prevent. If you are having feet, hock or any bony part of the pig like the spine, consider adding those first and letting them cook about 45 mins until you add the other parts.
While the meat is cooking, let’s make the chile. Roast the poblano chiles- either directly on a gas stove, under broiler, or on a pan like I did-and place them in plastic bag to ease the peeling process. Peel and deseed the poblanos and set aside. In the same pan, slowly roast the tomatillos and serranos just until they get a char to them and are fully cooked. Next add all chiles and tomatillos to the blender along with the cilantro, cumin, pumpkin seeds, garlic, salt, pepper and green achiote paste. Blend until completely smooth. Set aside.
Once meat is cooked but not quite fork tender, it’s time to bring all the components together. Start by removing the bay leaves and seeing how much liquid is left in the pot. If you think you need to more, then add water or chicken stock. Remember you can always add more water, but can’t remove any. So be careful. Add the blended green chile and mote /hominy and bring to a low simmer until meat starts to tenderize completely. Taste the broth and add salt if needed. Keep it on a low simmer until you’re ready to enjoy. Serve with all the toppings you want. I had mine with salsa macha (recipe coming soon) and boy it was delicious.
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