Memorial Day Recipes

Posole

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Posole

Rating:

(3 votes) 4 3

This is a Mexican stew/soup that has lots of flavor and spice subdued with gorgeous slices of avocado. Posole is considered a dish that brings good luck. It's often eaten on New Year's eve, but it's also eaten any time one needs a little extra luck. Kind of a nice touch, don't you think?

Ingredients

  • Enough pork to make stew 1/3 to 2/3 hominy, can be pork chops, roast or whatever version of pork you have
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • Oil
  • 1-2 Tbs. red chili powder or to taste
  • 2 C. chicken broth
  • Dash oregano
  • Well-rounded tsp. cumin powder
  • Kosher salt to taste
  • Water, if needed
  • Avocado slices

Directions

Start by cubing some pork. Depending upon the size of the can of posole you are using, you will need enough meat to have your final stew be slightly more than 1/3 pork to 2/3 hominy. If you wind up with half and half, that's fine.

Chop onion, and mince garlic. Put some oil in a large, heavy pot and sautee the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent - about 3-4 minutes. Add the meat and cook on medium high heat, turning often. Reduce your heat and add red chili powder to taste. I never measure, but I'm assuming I use at least a couple of tablespons. (But I like my food spicy!)

Stir the meat until it is coated with the chili, and then add chicken broth. At this point, I throw in a healthy dash of oregano and cumin powder, as well as some kosher salt. (Didn't all the early settlers have kosher salt?) If you are starting with the dried posole, you will want to add it before it's done cooking on it's own. If you've been cooking it for 45 minutes, you can add it at this point and let it finish it's cooking with the meat. You will also want to water - not the water you've been cooking it in (you want to make sure you don't have any of the lime in your final dish.) If you are using canned posole, you can cook the meat for about 40 minutes on it's own, before adding the posole. When you add the posole, remember to add water. If you want this to be a stew, add enough liquid to make it a stew, not a soup.

Cover and simmer on low for at least an hour and a half. I usually wind up cooking it for at least an hour and 45 minutes, because I get busy doing something else. Or maybe because it just needs more time. No matter which version of hominy you use, it will need time to cook. Your nose will tell you when it's getting close to being ready. Test it by tasting a piece of the hominy. It should be soft enough to chew easily, but not mush. I don't think I ever ate it with avocado when I lived in New Mexico, but I recently started chopping some on top and I love it that way!

Review this recipe:

Reviews (10)

  • I agree with you about the different variations to making "posole", also known as, "pozole". I beg to differ with you that "posole" is just a "stew" and not an ingredient.

    Flag as inappropriate BouncySue  |  January 12, 2009

  • First to Kathleen, the name of the dish is "posole" it is not an ingredient, it's the stew. Next; I feel sorry for the original contributor, Toni, as she submitted a recipe that has so many variations that we know there would be a lot of comments. Some recipes don't translate well to the written word; like trying to explain how things feel or texture or what exactly is a pinch of salt. My hand or yours? It certainly will be different, unless we start measuring fingure and hand size

    Flag as inappropriate orionsstorm  |  October 12, 2008

  • this recipe makes no sense, i have cooked po(z)ole with a z not an s many times and it is delicious, just ask my husband and kids, and i have never cooked it the way it was written in your page, and the garnishment is not only avocado, which very few people use, but you can, and it is not lettuce that you put in it. You put in as garnishment shredded cabbage, radishes, and onions, oh yea a hot sauce like tapatio or a homemade chile sauce,all of this is piled on top of the pozole in individual b

    Flag as inappropriate jormararguello  |  November 27, 2007

  • Having lived in Mexico, I've enjoyed posole many times and ingredients may vary from region to region. In addition to an avocado garnish, shredded lettuce, chopped onion and radishes are used. There are different ways to prepare this dish, and I guess I'd say experiment.

    Flag as inappropriate Luisa  |  October 3, 2007

  • i konw how to cook posole and that not how you make it and i have cook this dish for 15 years

    Flag as inappropriate marygilbert  |  October 2, 2007

  • This recipe is very confusing. It is not possible to cut pork and make it into hominy (corn). Also posole is mentioned in the directions, but not in the list of ingredients. Please clarify.

    Flag as inappropriate  |  October 2, 2007

  • I don't know who wrote this but talk about scatter brained. This recipe is all over the place. Experienced or not recipes should be written to be followed with some ease.

    Flag as inappropriate candiceelder  |  October 2, 2007

  • The way this recipe is written is for experienced cooks like I am, but for the beginner, the exact measure and proceedure is not evident. I don't need the exact because this is a variable recipe to taste, texture, and preference in general! I would assume? Good recipe for me to keep!

    Flag as inappropriate tina23  |  October 1, 2007

  • Dried or canned posole must mean "hominy" and the longer it is cooked, the tastier is the soup/stew (in my opinion). I also saute the garlic and long dried chiles, e.g., California or Pasilla chiles in a little oil until soft and blend them with some of the broth and blend into the pot. This recipe is very good without the chiles but even better with (and not any more spicy).

    Flag as inappropriate christinescamel  |  October 1, 2007

  • this is the most confusingly written recipe! please rewrite this so it makes clear how much of each ingredient is used, what size to chop things, etc.

    Flag as inappropriate goatee43  |  October 1, 2007

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