Calling all Hispanic chefs. I want to make some good pork pasole

Pork pasole was one of my favorite childhood foods. Many a late night at my grandmother's house I'd sneak down into the kitchen looking for snacks and find a bowl of homemade pasole instead. I know a few basic ingredients and somewhat how to go about it, but found a few online recipes to be a little overwhelming for me. Most recipes were for a large party, and I'll only be cooking for 2 people (hopefully with some leftovers.) I don't have big storage containers, so I don't want a giant meal.

Also, most recipes I found called for equipment I don't have like a crock pot, or a slow cooker (not even sure what a slow cooker is ha.) I'm also not sure what cut of meat to get.

I have one big pot with a lid and a craving for good pasole.

So...if you have a recipe that'll feed 2 people for a day or two, please let me know. I'm looking for homemade family recipes and not just something copy/pasted from the web. I could very well do that myself!

Thanks in advance.

reply to post by NarcolepticBuddha


This any help?

Pozole is a special occasion dish in Mexico.

4 to 6 servings
Ingredients

Soup

Pork shoulder or roast -- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds
Canned or fresh hominy, rinsed -- 2 to 3 cups
Garlic -- 3 to 5 cloves
Ground cumin -- 2 teaspoons
Salt -- 2 teaspoons
Water or stock -- 6 cups

Garnishes

Cabbage or iceberg lettuce, shredded
Onion, finely diced
Radishes, thinly sliced
Limes, cut into wedges
Avocado, diced
Cilantro, chopped
Oregano, dried
Chile piquín, ground

Method

Add the pork, hominy, garlic, cumin, salt and stock or water to a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender.

Remove the pot from heat. Take the pork from pot and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from its bones and shred it with your hands.

Add the meat back to the pot and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve with little bowls of your choice of garnishes so each dinner can garnish his or her own serving.

Variations

Pozole varies according to region, but the above recipe is the most basic and is known as pozole blanco, or white pozole. It is popular in Guadalajara.

Pozole Rojo (Red pozole): This variation is popular in Michoacán and Jalisco States. It is the same as the above recipe, but dried chiles are added. Remove the stems and seeds from 3 to 5 ancho or guajillo chiles. Mix them with a little of the hot liquid from the stewpot and soak for 20 to 30 minutes until soft. Puree in a blender and strain through a sieve into the stew for the last 30 to 45 minutes of cooking.

Pozole Verde (Green pozole): Popular in Guerrero State. Follow the above recipe. Toast 1 cup of shelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas), and then puree the seeds in a blender with 1 to 2 cups of canned or fresh cooked tomatillos, a chopped jalapeño, a couple of leaves of lettuce, a few sprigs of chopped cilantro and a little liquid from the stewpot. Strain through a sieve into a hot skillet and boil rapidly for about 5 minutes to cook down a little. Stir into the stew for the last 20 to 30 minutes of simmering.

Many recipes call for a mixture of chicken and pork. First simmer a whole chicken until the meat is tender. Remove the chicken, cool, remove the meat from its bones and shred. Set the chicken meat aside and continue with the above recipe, adding the pork to the chicken broth you just made. Add the shredded chicken back in to the pozole along with the shredded pork.

Large batches of pozole are often made for special occasions, and the addition of a pig's head and pig's feet add immeasurably to both the flavor and texture of the final dish.

Sometimes a raw egg is stirred into the stew just before serving.

These guys are down to earth and search for pretty authentic recipes

Kinda cooking for dummies



Enjoy
Cody

reply to post by alienscot1


Well, I was kind of hoping for someone to share a homemade recipe instead of a copy/paste from the web. But thanks anyway. If all else fails I will try the one you provided.

I'll see if I can get a recipe from my neighbor, but this one is actually pretty close to what she makes. www.food.com...

I'd try reducing all ingredients by half to make a smaller pot. Good luck!

reply to post by NarcolepticBuddha


Well, I'm not Hispanic and I'm not a meat-eater, but I process rare grains and was once asked by a fellow farmer's marketer to find nixtalamized corn so she could make posole with hominy and nixtalamized cornmeal. I found it, blue corn, in fact and I asked for her recipe. I've made this without the pork and my family loved it.

2 lbs pork loin
water to cover pork
2 tsp salt
4 C hominy (plus 2 C nixtalamized cornmeal, if you can find it)
3 T chili powder
1 small head cabbage, shredded (half for garnish, half for cooking)
1 onion, diced (half for garnish, half for cooking)
3 - 5 cloves garlic
2 T olive oil
1 lime, cut into wedges
several radishes, sliced (if you like them)
jalapenos (if you like them)
bell peppers (if you like them)

In a large pot over high heat combine the pork, salt and water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low. Allow to simmer for two hours. Skim foam as necessary. While pork is simmering sautee half of the onion and the garlic cloves (whole, minced, smashed, whatever) in olive oil. Remove from heat and remove pork to de-bone, then return meat to stock. Add hominy, chili powder, sauteed onion and garlic and simmer over low heat for 30 - 45 mins (until it smells so good you must eat it).

Serve soup in bowls with the rest of the diced onion, shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, limes, and any other accoutrements you included. Each of you can add as much as you like of the vegetables to your own individual bowls.

HTH - I thought it was awesome. Looked it up online and the 2 lbs pork is traditionally a pig's head, with the ears being the delicacy meat.... So, you know, maybe find a carniceria and ask for a pig's head??

reply to post by Halekoch


Thank you! What is nixtalamized cornmeal and how does it contribute to the overall dish? That sounds interesting and I'm curious to try it out.

Although I am looking for some traditional family recipes, a pig's head is a little bit too authentic for me.

The main reason I want to make my own at this point is because I've been really unimpressed any time I've ever had pasole in a restaurant. The only time I've had truly astonishing pasole is when my grandmother used to make it (stupid me never bothered to learn it,) and from a family friend's mother who made it on Christmas (oh, it was to die for!)

I find restaurant pasole to be pretty bland. I guess I will just start with the basics and perfect the dish through trial and error.

reply to post by NarcolepticBuddha


Nixtalamized corn is corn that has been cooked and steeped in a lime preparation. Masa harina (or just masa) is nixtalamized corn meal, which makes corn tortillas and corn chips. It's a thickener in posole, but it also has surprising health benefits - soaking the corn in lime frees up B-vitamins so our bodies can absorb them and often there's an increase in calcium, although this didn't seem consistent in my research. Bonus: it's fun to say "nixtalamized" and sound all smart 'n stuff.

I added cumin when I made it because I add cumin as a default and it was nice.

If I had paid more attention to any of my grandparents I'd be a much better cook than I am today. Hindsight, right?

The pig's head sounds like a great dare, but I'm relieved you aren't going to try it. That's a little too authentic for me, too. Best of luck in your posole endeavors!

reply to post by NarcolepticBuddha


Oh, and since I have it and it's what I do - I'd be happy to send you 1 lb of blue corn nixtalamized meal if you'd like if you live in the US. I only grind whole grains and use no preservatives, so I don't think it would ship out of the country too well. It also won't last more than 7 days out on your counter, 30 in your freezer.

reply to post by Halekoch


Thank you for the offer, but I'm not ready to get that serious with my pasole just yet. It does sound interesting and I'm hoping I can find it locally. I'm sure with a little bit of looking around the neighborhoods I can find it.

thanks again for the tip. I shall keep your offer in mind.

reply to post by cody599


Have you tried the recipes in the videos? How are they? Thanks for the suggestion.

reply to post by NarcolepticBuddha


Oh yeah

Bloody lovely I'm drooling as I'm typing

I swear by these guys. They made an Iraqi dish that my ex mother in law made from a family recipe (she can't read or write so it was real word of mouth) , Damn near perfect.

Cody

reply to post by cody599


Those cooking guys are hilarious. The dish they made looked tasty and easy to make. Ty for the post.

Op, hope you find the family recipe for the pasole. Please share the recipe, when you get it, with the rest of us. Sure it'll be my fam's favorite dish.

Good luck.

-CN

So I made my first batch of pork pasole last night! It. came. out. great! It really surpassed my expectations for the first time trying the dish. I did mostly stick to the core recipe, but found a few little variations of my own and managed to find out my own family recipe (which includes a homemade chili sauce to season the soup.)

Here's my findings: Most recipes call for either pork loin or pork shoulder.

Using an entire cut or roast was simply much too large for me. I did manage to find some pork shoulder steaks though. I also tried a pork loin chop as well. I found the shoulder cuts to be MUCH more tender, juicy, and delicious. I would just stick with the shoulder cuts, preferably in steaks for faster cooking.

I'm still open to new twists and turns with this recipe. It's something I'll probably be making once a month since it is one of my favorite homey foods.