Pozole Rojo from Scratch

Pozole Rojo

I recently enrolled in a 16-week diploma course in Mexican cooking from the Culinary Art School in Tijuana. Luckily, the course is on-line so I don’t have to travel across the border to attend the classes (which are located only seven miles from my home in Chula Vista). Since I live in a town heavily-influenced by latino culture, I’ve always loved Mexican food such as tacos and enchiladas, etc. However, this time, I wanted to delve deeper into Mexican food, hoping to discover new recipes and their origins.

One of the recipes we had to make was Pozole Rojo, consisting of slow-cooked pieces of pork (including pig’s feet), a rich red salsa, and dried corn kernels that have been converted into hominy. Many people simply buy a can of ready-made hominy to add to their Pozole, however I was required to make mine from scratch. This involves cooking the dried maize (corn) for several hours in a solution of calcium hydroxide (lime) until the hulls separate from the kernels, resulting in soft, toasty-flavored hominy. This process is called nixtamalization and dates back hundreds of years in Mexico before the Spanish conquistadores arrived in the 16th century.

This process took me at least two hours, making me conclude that using a pressure cooker next time would perhaps be a good idea!

Dried red corn kernels before being cooked in lime

After cooking in lime for around two hours, the hull separates from the kernel, making hominy. Rinse the kernels in running water, then ‘scrub’ the kernels back and forth with your hands to remove any residual skins.

Basic Ingredients for Pazole Rojo

Here are all the ingredients you’ll need for Pozole, including the dried chiles, roasted onion and garlic for the salsa, pork meat (including pig’s feet), garnishes and dried corn with calcium hydroxide (lime) for the hominy. To make things easier, you could just use canned hominy.

Cooking the Meat (are you game enough to add a pig’s head)?

Place the pork bones, meat, and pig’s feet in a large pot along with an onion and four garlic cloves, cover with water, and simmer for around two hours, or until the meat is tender and falls off the bone. The pig’s feet give off a nice gelatinous flavor, but this is optional. But remember, an authentic Pozole also has a pig’s head cooking in the pot but my butcher didn’t have one on hand!

Making the Salsa

Heat eight dried guajillo peppers and four puya or ancho chiles in a fry pan for several minutes until soft and their color has changed a bit. Remove the seeds and soak in 1/2 cup (or more) of the hot pork cooking liquid. Place the chiles along with the soaking liquid in a food processor, along with the roasted onion and garlic and ‘blitz’ for one minute until smooth. You’ll be adding this later to the meat as it cooks.

Wrapping it all up!

After the meat is cooked and tender, remove the pork bones and pig’s feet from the broth, add the salsa, the prepared hominy, and salt to taste. Continue to cook the mixture for at least another 30 minutes until all flavors are infused.

Add the Garnishes and Enjoy!

There are quite a few garnishes: sliced radishes, lettuce, lemon slices, onions, coriander, and fried tortilla.