White Pozole

Pozole might be the most popular national dish of Mexico. Unfortunately, I could never really get on board with the pozole thing - possibly because the first bowl served to me had a surprise chicken foot floating in it. (I suppose I should be grateful that it wasn't a floating pig's head, pozole's most common protein.) I avoided pozole for a long time, but this was my loss because it is quite good (as long as I continue to adapt my recipe to include boneless chicken meat).

Pozole, at its most basic, is a soup made with hominy (a white corn-like vegetable), that is super popular throughout all of Mexico, especially on September 16th, Mexico's Independence Day. The cooked pozole is relatively simple, but each person customizes their bowl with a variety of pozole specific garnishes.

Ingredients
300 g. hominy (maiz pozolero)
water
salt
500 g. shredded chicken
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
a bundle of thyme, parsley and leek

50 g. onion
10 g. garlic
200 g. roma tomato
50 g. chile de arbol (crushed red pepper)

shredded lettuce
minced radish
minced onion
lime wedges
oregano
sour cream
tortilla chips

Directions

1 - If using fresh hominy, cook the hominy, salt and water together in a pot over medium heat until the skin separates easily. Remove from heat and remove all of the hominy skins. (If you bought canned hominy, just drain it.)

2 - Add the chicken, onion, garlic and herb bundle to the leftover hominy water and boil, for 10 - 15 minutes.

3 - Add the hominy, and finish cooking together. Add salt to taste.

4 - For the salsa, fry the garlic, onion and chile de arbol in a small saute pan over low heat. Add the tomatoes and some water. Cook for 20 minutes, add to a blender, liquefy it, and add salt to taste.

5 - Serve the pozole hot with the salsa and a plate full of all the garnishes.