Recipes excerpted from The Rancho Gordo Pozole Book by Steve Sando. RanchoGordo.com
Many people ask me for restaurant recommendations for Mexico City, but I normally have nothing unusual to offer. I haven’t spent time there in many years. I land at the airport and, more often than not, I’m greeted by my friends Yunuen Quiroz and Gabriel Garcia. They whisk me off to Pozolería Blanquita for a meal before we hit the road to Hidalgo, Oaxaca or Puebla.
Pozolería Blanquita is known for its pozole blanco with its rich broth. It’s here that I learned to love habanero chile relish—now I use it to garnish quesadillas and bowls of beans, and as a base for other salsas.
Ingredients
- 2 to 4 pounds bone-in pork shoulder, chopped into large chunks
- 1 pound bone-in country-style pork ribs
- 1 pig trotter (optional), chopped into 6 pieces
- ½ of an onion, sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 black peppercorns, roughly cracked
- 1 tablespoon salt, or to taste
- 4 to 6 cups cooked prepared hominy (see “how to” in the online version of this recipe at EdibleMarinAndWineCountry.com)
- Radishes, sliced thin
- Onion, finely chopped
- Dried Mexican oregano or Rancho Gordo Oregano Indio
- Romaine or iceberg lettuce, sliced very thin
- Mexican limes or key limes, quartered
- Pequín chile powder
- Avocado, cubed
- Chicharrón
- Habanero Chile Relish (see recipe on page 52 of this issue)
Preparation
In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, add the pork shoulder, ribs, trotter, onion, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, salt and enough water to cover meat by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat to a gentle simmer, using a lid to help regulate temperature as needed. Skim and discard any impurities that rise to the top. Continue to simmer for several hours, adding hot water as needed to keep the meat covered, until meat is tender and falling off the bones.
Remove the pork pieces to a platter. Once cool enough to handle, separate the meat, discarding bones and skin.
Strain the broth into a very large bowl; cool to room temperature. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours, or overnight, until fat rises to the top of the bowl and congeals. Remove the fat and reserve for another use.
TO FINISH
In a stockpot over medium heat, combine the hominy, meat and enough of the broth to make a soupy stew. Cook until warm, 10 to 15 minutes. Add more broth as needed, or some of the reserved hominy-cooking liquid if you run out of broth.
Ladle into bowls and serve with the fresh Habanero Chile Relish and your other preferred garnishes.
