America's Test Kitchen LogoCook's Country LogoCook's Illustrated LogoAmerica's Test Kitchen LogoCook's Country LogoCook's Illustrated Logo

Pozole Rojo

By Annie Petito

Published on October 2, 2023

Time

2¾ hours

Yield

Serves 6 to 8

Pozole Rojo

Ingredients

½ large white onion, peeled and quartered through root end10 garlic cloves, peeled2 bay leaves 1 (3½-pound) boneless pork butt roast, trimmed well and cut into 2-inch pieces2½ teaspoons table salt, divided1 ounce dried guajillo chile, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 1-inch pieces1 ounce dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 1-inch pieces½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano 3 (15-ounce) cans white hominy, rinsedThinly sliced iceberg lettuce or green cabbageThinly sliced radishes Finely chopped onion Crumbled dried Mexican oregano lime wedges Hot sauce Tostadas

Before You Begin

Pork butt roast is often labeled Boston butt in the supermarket. Dried chiles should be pliable and smell slightly fruity. Kitchen shears can be used to cut them. For serving, we prefer Valentina or Tapatío hot sauce. This soup benefits from being made in advance—at least a few hours before eating and up to three days.

Instructions

  1. Bundle onion, garlic, and bay leaves in single layer of cheesecloth and secure with kitchen twine. Combine bundle, pork, 1½ teaspoons salt, and 10 cups water in large Dutch oven and bring to boil over high heat. Adjust heat to gentle simmer and cook, covered, until pork is tender, about 2 hours, occasionally skimming foam off surface.
  2. Meanwhile, place guajillos and anchos in medium bowl. Add 2 cups hot water, making sure chiles are completely submerged, and let stand until softened, about 20 minutes. Discard soaking liquid and transfer chiles to blender.
  3. When pork is tender, remove bundle. Transfer garlic cloves and 1 onion wedge to blender (discard remaining bundle). Add oregano, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 cup pork broth and blend until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down sides of blender halfway through (add ¼ cup additional broth if necessary to maintain vortex).
  4. Strain puree through fine-mesh strainer directly into pot, pressing to extract as much puree as possible. Discard solids. Add hominy and return to simmer. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes to allow flavors to meld. Season with salt to taste. Portion soup into individual bowls and serve, passing garnishes separately. (Pozole can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 4 months.)

Pozole Rojo

Headshot of Annie Petito
By Annie Petito
4.5(97)
41Comments
Save
Saved

Time

2¾ hours

Yield

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

½ large white onion, peeled and quartered through root end
10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 bay leaves
1 (3½-pound) boneless pork butt roast, trimmed well and cut into 2-inch pieces
2½ teaspoons table salt, divided
1 ounce dried guajillo chile, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 1-inch pieces
1 ounce dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 1-inch pieces
½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
3 (15-ounce) cans white hominy, rinsed
Thinly sliced iceberg lettuce or green cabbage
Thinly sliced radishes
Finely chopped onion
Crumbled dried Mexican oregano
lime wedges
Hot sauce
Tostadas

Test Kitchen Techniques

Ingredients

½ large white onion, peeled and quartered through root end
10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 bay leaves
1 (3½-pound) boneless pork butt roast, trimmed well and cut into 2-inch pieces
2½ teaspoons table salt, divided
1 ounce dried guajillo chile, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 1-inch pieces
1 ounce dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 1-inch pieces
½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
3 (15-ounce) cans white hominy, rinsed
Thinly sliced iceberg lettuce or green cabbage
Thinly sliced radishes
Finely chopped onion
Crumbled dried Mexican oregano
lime wedges
Hot sauce
Tostadas

Test Kitchen Techniques

Ingredients

½ large white onion, peeled and quartered through root end
10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 bay leaves
1 (3½-pound) boneless pork butt roast, trimmed well and cut into 2-inch pieces
2½ teaspoons table salt, divided
1 ounce dried guajillo chile, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 1-inch pieces
1 ounce dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 1-inch pieces
½ teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
3 (15-ounce) cans white hominy, rinsed
Thinly sliced iceberg lettuce or green cabbage
Thinly sliced radishes
Finely chopped onion
Crumbled dried Mexican oregano
lime wedges
Hot sauce
Tostadas

Test Kitchen Techniques

Why This Recipe Works

Pozole rojo, a soup of pork, chiles, and hominy, has been an essential recipe in Mexico for centuries. For our take, we gently simmered chunks of boneless pork butt, which will turn tender during cooking, with a few aromatics for a clean, savory broth. The pork, which we cut into larger chunks for textural contrast, turned tender during cooking. Soaking equal parts guajillo and ancho chiles gave the puree bright fruitiness and raisiny sweetness. Blending the chiles with the cooked alliums from the broth, as well as a bit of oregano, rounded out the flavor. Straining the puree kept the bitter chile skins from making their way into the soup and ensured a clean flavor, as did using some of the pork broth, rather than the chile soaking liquid, to make the puree. Adding the hominy near the end of cooking helped to keep its texture chewy. Fresh, crunchy, and bright garnishes complement the soup's warm, earthy flavor.

Want more? Read the whole story

Before You Begin

Pork butt roast is often labeled Boston butt in the supermarket. Dried chiles should be pliable and smell slightly fruity. Kitchen shears can be used to cut them. For serving, we prefer Valentina or Tapatío hot sauce. This soup benefits from being made in advance—at least a few hours before eating and up to three days.

Instructions

  1. Bundle onion, garlic, and bay leaves in single layer of cheesecloth and secure with kitchen twine. Combine bundle, pork, 1½ teaspoons salt, and 10 cups water in large Dutch oven and bring to boil over high heat. Adjust heat to gentle simmer and cook, covered, until pork is tender, about 2 hours, occasionally skimming foam off surface.
  2. Meanwhile, place guajillos and anchos in medium bowl. Add 2 cups hot water, making sure chiles are completely submerged, and let stand until softened, about 20 minutes. Discard soaking liquid and transfer chiles to blender.
  3. When pork is tender, remove bundle. Transfer garlic cloves and 1 onion wedge to blender (discard remaining bundle). Add oregano, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 cup pork broth and blend until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down sides of blender halfway through (add ¼ cup additional broth if necessary to maintain vortex).
  4. Strain puree through fine-mesh strainer directly into pot, pressing to extract as much puree as possible. Discard solids. Add hominy and return to simmer. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes to allow flavors to meld. Season with salt to taste. Portion soup into individual bowls and serve, passing garnishes separately. (Pozole can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 4 months.)

Gift This Recipe

Enjoyed this dish? Let others know by sharing it as a gift recipe.

More Like This

Recipe

Slow-Cooker Tomatillo Chili With Pork and Hominy

Average rating 4.5, 51 ratings.

Recipe

Spicy Mexican Shredded Pork Tostadas (Tinga)

Average rating 4.5, 92 ratings.

Recipe

Tortilla Soup

Average rating 4.5, 191 ratings.

Magazine

November / December 2023

Keep Exploring

MexicanPorkSoupsFruits & VegetablesLatin America & CaribbeanVegetablesMeatMain Courses
This is a members' feature.