TIP-TOP TOPPINGS
Serve your pozole blanco with toppings like peppery radish, crisp cabbage, creamy avocado and salsa.
Some people need chilly weather as their cue to make soup. Not me. I love soup no matter what the weather is. Any food that can be a complete meal in a single bowl is a perfect meal to me. My favorite year-round bowl of hearty goodness? A Mexican pork and hominy soup known as pozole. Our family made it just as often for Mother’s Day as we did at Christmastime.
First off, is it “pozole” or “posole”? Both are pronounced the same and both spellings are acceptable, the “z” being the preferred spelling in Mexico while the “s” is used more commonly in border towns and in some areas here in the States. The origins of pozole are steeped in folklore, some of it gruesome, so I won’t go into detail. The word comes from the Nahuatl word for
“hominy” — Nahuatl being the language of the Aztecs. Many of the references I found state that the soup dates back to pre-columbian days, when Aztecs made the soup for celebrations mostly due to the fact that hominy — or more broadly, corn — was considered a sacred food of the gods. Later, when Spaniards arrived on the scene with pigs in tow, pork was introduced to the soup.
There are three basic types of this soup: white (blanco), red (rojo) and green (verde). The red is what I grew up with, as my father taught my mother the style his family preferred. My maternal grandmother made white, which is the style I’m sharing today. The green can be made with pork or chicken.
White pozole is the base for all three types, sharing its core ingredients with the other two: hominy, pork, aromatics like garlic, onion, bay leaf, allspice, thyme and Mexican oregano. What changes is the addition of mild dried chiles for the red and tomatillos, poblanos, jalapeños and cilantro for the green.
The wonderful thing about pozole blanco is that no two bowls will taste exactly alike. That’s because the soup itself is the perfect vehicle for arguably the best thing about pozole: the toppings! But more on that later.
As for the protein, yes, you can substitute chicken for the traditional pork in all three varieties. However, the richer tasting pork with its long cook creates a more full-bodied broth that pairs wonderfully with the hominy. As for what cut of pork to use, I tend to stick to my family’s traditional choice of pork neck bones, and if you want a little more meat, add some pork country-style ribs or some chunks of well-trimmed pork butt. Some people also add trotters (pig’s feet), but that might be a bit off-putting, especially if you have kids in the house.
Whatever cuts you use, make sure you have at least 30 percent bones in the mix. The bones will add a tremendous amount of flavor — and nutrients — to the broth. I’ve seen some recipes that call for pork loin. I don’t recommend using it for soup. Although it generally has a thick fat cap, the meat itself is lean. Save it for your slow roasting recipes.
The star ingredient in pozole is well, pozole — or hominy in English. There are three ways you can go with this: You can start from dried maize, also known as field corn (available locally at Northgate Market and Specialty Produce or online at masienda.com), to nixtamalize yourself (see box at right) or buy fresh nixtamalized hominy (also available at Northgate Market). And then there’s the easiest way, which is to use canned hominy, a pantry staple for most Mexican grandmas (and for those of us who grew up making pozole year-round).
For this recipe, I started with nixtamalized hominy that I picked up at my local Northgate Market in the refrigerated section of the store’s in-house tortilleria. This is the same exact product used for grinding into masa for tortillas or tamales. To use it in a soup, it still requires a good deal of cooking but only a fraction of the time that dried hominy would take.
When you get the hominy home, you’ll need to rinse it several times. I find it easiest to place it in a steamer basket or colander set inside a large pot, and fill the pot with water while simultaneously rubbing the corn briskly. Let it soak for 5 minutes, drain and repeat until the water is left clear. It took me three rinses to reach the clear water stage. Optionally, it’s recommended that you remove the little point (germ) from each individual kernel before cooking. This is a timeconsuming step, but removing it will allow the kernel to bloom when fully cooked (canned hominy has the germ removed for you). The point is also a little tough to eat, but I often get lazy and don’t bother.
Next come the aromatics. I like to add half a white onion and some bay leaves. The hominy will need to cook for 3 to 4 hours at a mediumlow simmer (too high a simmer or even a boil produces a cloudy broth). Be sure to keep an eye on the water level. You will most likely need to add hot water at least
once to keep the water 2 inches above the corn.
After the first hour of cooking the hominy, you can fill a second stock pot with the meat and water and its aromatics. The meat will require about 2½ hours of cooking time to become fall-off-the-bone tender. Both should be ready to marry at the end of the 3½ to 4 hours’ cooking time.
Though you could most certainly toss spices and herbs directly into the pot of simmering meat, I like to create a bouquet garni; the herbs and spices get wrapped in cheesecloth, tightly bound with kitchen string before getting tossed into the pot. I feel this helps keep the broth clear and less muddled.
A tip for working with cheesecloth for making the bundles: Tame the fringe created while cutting the cheesecloth to size by saturating it with water, wringing it, then smoothing it out so it’s ready to be filled with your aromatics. I used fresh oregano, fresh thyme, garlic, peppercorns and whole allspice berries, which I cracked open using a mortar and pestle.
As I mentioned, no two bowls of pozole blanco taste the same, and that’s because each bowl can be customized by the diner. Some suggested toppings include: diced avocado, dried Mexican oregano, sliced radishes, chicharrones, cilantro, diced white onion, lime wedges, shredded cabbage, tostadas or tortilla chips and your favorite salsa.
I suggest putting the toppings in bowls and arranging them on a platter to be passed at the dinner table so everyone can customize their additions, creating their own perfect bowl of pozole blanco.