Pozole is one of those soups that I've been making for years. When I was in Seattle, one of the line cooks I worked with introduced me to Pozole Blanco. I have made it at almost every restaurant I've worked at since, as it's a flavorful broth based soup that you garnish with crisp refreshing ingredients. The slow cook on the pork, married with the hominy, gives an earthy flavor that can't be missed. With pozole verde, you lean into tomatillos and cilantro to give you the verde part. I also added fresh corn, garden carrots, and peppers to help round out the flavor.
Once again, pozole is a soup that you can adjust very easily. Changing the protein, the garnish, the vegetables, broth, etc. The main parts are the braised meat and the hominy. In order to make the verde part of this soup, you need to use the tomatillos, the cilantro is a welcome addition for both color and flavor.
One call out I have in how I made this, is that I pureed different ingredients, then added them at different times. Because of that, you really don't need to rinse out your blender or your stick blender, as everything is going into the same pot. I wanted the tomatillos to help flavor the soup, so I pureed them first and added them to the base. I didn't want to burn, or discolor and reduce the flavor of the cilantro so I added them later.
Enjoy
Ingredients
Pork Butt, diced 3 lbs
Tomatillos 3 1/2 lbs
Carrots, diced 4 mdm
Corn 3 ea
Hominy 2 cans (14 oz)
Chicken Stock 2 qt
Peppers, sliced 8 small
Cilantro, stems and leaves 1 bunch
Lime Juice & Zest 1 ea
Cuban Oregano, ribbons 2 T
Onion, julienned 4 ea
Avenue Spice 2 T
Black Pepper, ground 1 T
Salt 2 T
Water 2 qt
Garnish
Shredded cabbage
Cilantro
Radish
Optionally hot peppers, avocado, crema, hot sauce, or pretty much anything that works with your flavor profile.
Method of Procedure
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Husk your corn and tomatillos, place on a baking tray, and drizzle with olive oil. Cook for 15-25 minutes until the corn is lightly roasted and the tomatillos are softened. Remove from heat and cool.
Open and rinse off your hominy.
Dice your pork and toss with avenue spice, salt, and pepper.
Saute your pork with your julienned onions until they brown lightly.
Puree your roasted tomatillos until smooth and add them, the stock, the water (reserving 1 cup), and lime juice and zest.
Cut your corn kernels off the cob, then run the flat edge of your knife along the cob into the soup. Add the kernels and simmer until your pork is fork tender.
Once your pork is tender, add your sliced peppers. Then, in a separate pan, saute your carrots to get a little color, then add to the soup.
Cut your cilantro stems off the and puree with your reserved water until smooth. Add your cilantro leaves and puree until smooth.
Simmer until desired thickness, keeping in mind the hominy and corn will thicken the soup.
Remove the corn cobs and season to taste.
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