I’m trying to eat more foods that are traditional to my area- particularly those using indigenous ingredients.  A really fine example of this is Pozole, an Aztec soup based on meat broth and hominy (nixtamalized corn kernels).

Mine is a very basic recipe with restricted ingredients.  I’ve labeled all of the non-native ingredients, in case you are interested in being super-traditional.  I also left out a lot of the garnishes that have become popular over time.  You can certainly put cheese, radish slices, cabbage, or tortilla chips in your pozole if you want.

Pozole

Hardware:

• Big Stockpot or Slow Cooker
• Big Spoon
• Chef Knife
• Cutting Board
• 2 Forks
• Stove
• Soup Bowls and Spoons (for eating)

• 1 Pork Shoulder or Boston Butt
• 2 quarts Water (8 cups)
• 29-30 ounces prepared Hominy kernels (Doubling this is fine)
• 4 ounces or 1/4 cup diced Green Chilis (pick heat by taste)
• 1/2 tbsp. powdered Cayenne, Arbol, or Ancho Chili (more or less to taste)
• 2 tbsp Salt (vary to taste)
• 1 tsp Black Pepper, ground [Non Native]
• 1 Onion, diced [Non Native – Substitute wild onions]
• 4 cloves (2 tsp.) minced Garlic [Non Native]
• Limes to garnish if you want.

Preparation

Rub the pork with half the salt, all of the black pepper, and half the garlic.    Put the pork in the stockpot and pour in the water.

Braise the pork for several hours until fork tender.  This means to bring it almost to a boil and then drop the temperature to simmer with the lid on.  You’ll want to simmer it for 4-8 hours depending on the size of your pork butt.  You can tell it’s done when a fork easily tears off pieces of meat from the bone.

Remove pork from the pot and allow to cool until safe enough to handle.  Reserve the cooking liquid for stock.  Pull the pork off the bone and chop into bite-sized pieces.  If you are concerned about fat, you can always refrigerate the broth and skim off the fat before you finish cooking.

While waiting for the pork to cool, place all remaining ingredients in the pork stock (cooking liquid).  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for about an hour, which should be plenty of time to get the pork ready.

Depending the size of your pork shoulder, it might be good to use only half of it for the soup and to turn the rest into pulled pork (in barbecue sauce) for baked potatoes or sandwiches.  Whatever you decide, put the pork you want in the soup and bring the soup back up to a simmer.  Let it simmer for five minutes and then serve in bowls.