Authentic Mexican Pozole by Donald

The recipe I use is below, and I make a few modifications:

I go heavy on the meat and hominy, usually between 2 and 3lb of pork and 6 to 8 cups of hominy.

I don't include the ancho chiles, but I use ancho chile powder instead of California chile powder in the regular ingredient mix. It gives similar flavor without quite so much heat.

I always include the diced green chilies but usually don't include the jalapenos because that makes it too spicy for most people in our family. 

I make sure to get pork shoulder still on the bone. They also sell it boneless, but the flavor isn't quite as good in my experience. The only problem with having it on the bone is that it's really tricky to carve all the meat bites out and get rid of all the fat surrounding it after you have made the broth - it's super time consuming.

The recipe says to simmer for an hour, but the longer it simmers the better the flavors mix together, so I usually let it go longer than that. That's why this makes a good all day project to do on Christmas.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1⁄2 lbs pork shoulder
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 tablespoons California chili powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon oregano
• 4 cups canned white hominy, drained and rinsed
• 3 -5 cups pork broth, from cooking pork shoulder
• 1 cup canned diced green chilis (optional)
• salt 
• 2 whole fresh jalapenos, chopped (optional)
• 3 whole ancho chilies, seeded and stemmed (optional garnish)

DIRECTIONS

PREP WORK:

Prepare the onion, peel the garlic, chop the onion, peel and chop the 2 garlic cloves, chop the green chilies and jalapenos if you are using them and get the hominy drained and rinsed.

Boil the ancho chilies in a separate small pot for the garnish part (see below).

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS.

Place the meat in a large saucepan and just cover with lightly salted water. Add 1/2 chopped onion, the 2 cloves peeled garlic, pepper, cumin, and oregano. Bring to a boil over medium heat, skim off any foam that rises, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove meat and broth, reserving both. Cut the reserved pork into 1 inch cubes and add to the pan. (This is the part that takes a long time if your pork shoulder is on the bone!)

Saute the remaining chopped onion and garlic in oil until translucent. Add the remaining spices, stir for a minute.

Stir in the canned hominy, pork broth (if there is not enough pork broth, add chicken stock; this is great to add anyway for flavor), green chilies and jalapenos (optional).

Cook at a simmer, covered, for 45 to 60 minutes until the meat and hominy are tender.

If necessary, cook for up to an additional 60 minutes until the chilies and onions are well blended into the broth.

Degrease the stew, taste for salt, and serve in soup bowls.

Garnishes that are typically served with are:

• lime/lemon wedges
• sliced radishes
• chopped cilantro
• Shredded cabbage (not red)
• fresh/packaged fried corn tortillas
• Ancho puree (see below)

When ancho chilies are soft from boiling (takes about 15 minutes), put them in the blender with 1 1/2 cups of water, 1 clove of garlic, 2 tablespoons diced onion, and about 1 tablespoon of salt and pepper. Blend it into a puree, then put in a serving dish as an additional garnish. Beware, it's spicy!