Pork shoulder simmered for hours with hominy until the broth turns deep brick-red from toasted guajillo and ancho chiles. The corn swells and splits open, thickening the soup slightly as it goes. Half the pleasure is the table of garnishes — shredded cabbage, radish, raw onion, oregano and lime — that each person piles on.
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Terms ↗6 Steps
Cut the pork shoulder into 5 cm chunks and put them in a large pot with the trotter, the halved onion, the garlic, the bay leaves, a tablespoon of salt and about 4 litres of cold water. Bring to the boil and skim the grey foam off for the first ten minutes, then drop to a lazy simmer, partly covered, for 2 hours until the meat gives to a fork.
Meanwhile stem and deseed the guajillos and anchos. Toast them in a dry pan over medium heat for 20-30 seconds a side, pressing them flat, until they smell sweet and smoky but before any smoke rises. Cover with hot water and soak for 20 minutes.
Blend the drained chiles with the garlic, onion, oregano, cumin and about 250 ml of the soaking liquid until completely smooth, then push the purée through a fine sieve and discard the skins left behind.
Heat the oil in a small pan, pour in the strained chile and fry for 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly, until it darkens a shade and stops smelling raw. It will spit, so keep a lid handy.
Lift out the pork and shred it coarsely, discarding the trotter bones and any hard fat. Stir the fried chile and the drained hominy into the broth, return the meat, and simmer for another 40 minutes, until the corn has swollen and split and the broth is a deep even red. Season generously with salt — a big pot takes more than you expect.
Set out bowls of finely shredded cabbage, sliced radish, chopped raw onion, oregano, ground chile and lime wedges, and let everyone build their own bowl. Serve tostadas alongside.
Toast the dried chiles for seconds, not minutes: the moment they start to smoke they turn bitter and there is no rescuing the pot. Push the blended chile through a sieve before frying it, because the skins never break down fully and they leave the broth gritty.
Comments (3)
skipped the sieve once out of laziness and the broth was gritty. never again.
no trotter anywhere near me, my butcher gave me a pork bone instead and it was fine
three hours but almost none of it is actual work. proper sunday cooking.