PORK POZOLE ROJO

Bahan-bahan

FOR THE SOUP:

1 kilo Pork Loin

3 litres water

1 head garlic, whole & unpeeled (about 45 grams)

1 tablespoon table salt

20 grams dried Guajillo Chili

10 grams dried Cascabel Chili

2 tablespoons dried Mexican Oregano

1 garlic clove, peeled

830 grams tinned Pozole Kernels/Hominy

FOR THE GARNISHES:

Lettuce or White Cabbage, thinly sliced

10 Fresh radishes, thinly sliced

1 onion, finely chopped

4 limes, cut in quarters

Mexican Oregano

FOR SERVING:

Freshly made Corn Tostadas

Petunjuk

Cut the meat in three or four big chunks. Then put it with the water, the whole head of garlic (unpeeled) and the salt in the pressure cooker and cook for 50 minutes (start timing when the pressure cooker starts whistling) . The meat should be so tender it falls apart.

If you don't have a pressure cooker, bring all the ingredients in a large heavy bottom pot to boiling point and then simmer at medium heat for about 2 hours, the result should be very tender meat with plenty of stock left. Discard the garlic head and fish the meat out into a board. Roughly chop the meat (including a bit of the fat) and set aside. Reserve all the stock as this will be the basis for the soup.

2.

While the meat cooks, clean and deseed the dried chilies. Put them into a pot with about 1/2 a little of water and turn the heat onto high. Boil them for 20 minutes before switching the heat off and allowing the chilies to cool in the water.

3.

Drain the chilies and transfer them to a blender or food processor. Add the garlic clove, the oregano and at least 2 ladel-fulls of the reserved stock. Liquidize the ingredients until you have a smooth sauce.

4.

Pour the sauce into the reserved stock, add the drained pozole kernels and mix well. Turn the heat on to medium and let the soup simmer for 20 minutes before adding the chopped meat. Mix well and check for seasoning. The soup should taste a little bit bitter, so don't worry at this point, just check for saltiness.

5.

While the soup cooks, get all the table toppings/garnishes ready. Lettuce or white cabbage, onion, radishes, limes and very importantly the tostadas. Pozole without tostadas is not the same at all!

Set all the garnishes and the tostadas in the middle of the table and call the troops for dinner. Serve the soup very hot in deep bowls making sure you include plenty of meat and kernels in every bowl. Leave space in the bowl for the garnishes. Each person adds the garnishes to their taste: a handful of lettuce or white cabbage, plenty or radishes, two teaspoons of chopped onion and lashings of lime juice.

Eat the soup hot with plain tostadas rubbed with a bit of lime juice and a sprinkle of salt. If you are daring enough, add a bit of a very hot salsa to your pozole as another garnish or a thin layer of salsa to your tostada before eating it. Traditionally, Mexicans use Arbol Chili based salsas for this. My favourite one is this Dried Arbol Chili Salsa. The soup keeps well in the fridge for up to a week, but it also freezes well.