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Mexico, Americas

Pozole Rojo

A Mexican festive soup of pork and hominy (large corn kernels) cooked red with a dried chili sauce and topped with crunchy vegetables.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time2 h 20 min
DifficultyHard
About servingsThe pork broth is made in batches of at least 2 servings so it develops flavour. If you choose 1 serving, 2 servings of soup are made and only the toppings change to 1 serving. Leftover soup keeps for 4 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.

Method

  1. Put the pork, water, onion, garlic, bay leaves and salt in a large 24 cm pot and boil over high heat for , skimming off the foam. Turn down to low heat and simmer for , until the meat shreds easily with a fork.

    Add in this stepPork shoulder (in large pieces) 400 gWater 1½ LOnion (for the broth) ½Garlic (for the broth) 3Bay leaves 1Salt 1 tsp

    high heat→low heat

  2. Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chilies and toast them lightly on both sides in a dry pan over medium heat for . Take them out as soon as they smell fragrant; burnt chilies taste bitter.

    Add in this stepGuajillo chilies (dried) 3Ancho chilies (dried) 1

    medium heat

  3. Soak the toasted chilies in 1 cup of hot broth for 15 minutes, then blend until smooth with the garlic for the sauce, oregano and cumin, and pass through a sieve.

    Add in this stepGarlic (for the sauce) 1Dried oregano ½ tspGround cumin 1 pinch

  4. Heat the oil in a small pan and fry the chili sauce over medium heat for , stirring, until it darkens and thickens.

    Add in this stepCooking oil 1 tbsp

    medium heat

  5. Add the sauce and the rinsed hominy to the broth and simmer over medium-low heat for to let the flavours combine. Lift out the meat, shred it into bite-size pieces, return it to the pot and season with salt.

    Add in this stepCanned hominy (drained) 250 g

    medium-low heat

  6. Serve in bowls topped with cabbage, radishes, chopped onion and oregano. Squeeze over lime and serve with tostadas.

    Add in this stepCabbage (finely shredded) 80 gRadishes (thinly sliced) 2Onion (for the topping, chopped) ¼Lime 1Tostadas (crisp corn tortillas) 2

Cook's tip

Canned hominy is sold in Latin American shops, some large supermarkets and online. Straining the chili sauce removes the skins and makes the soup much smoother.

Cooking it at camp

Make the soup itself at home and freeze it to carry; only cut the topping vegetables on site. To cook it on site, simmer gently for 1 hour 30 minutes in a Dutch oven over 12 coals underneath.