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If you’ve ever wanted to try out a fun, delicious Mexican dish, then this recipe is the one for you. One of the best Mexican foods that is also easy to make at home is pozole. The hearty stew originated during the Aztec times and was once a dish for only the privileged. Pozole is a pork-based soup that is served hot with a bit of spice to it where the flavor of it is powerful enough to make you fall in love from the first bite you take.
Ingredients:
- Pork (shoulder, loin, ribs, or hocks, depending on your preference)
- Garlic
- Onion
- Basil
- Oregano
- Maize/corn
- Guajillo chili pepper
Instructions:
- Fill up a pot with water (more for a soupier broth, less for a richer one)
- Cut up the meat into bite-sized cubes, then season with oregano
- Place the seasoned meat cubes in the water
- Chop up the garlic, basil and onion, then let them all simmer after bringing the pot to a boil
- Blend up your guajillo chili pepper until smooth, adding water when needed
- Once the meat is tender, add the maize and the blended up pepper to the pot
- Then let it cook until the meat is well done and the maize/corn is nice and soft (check on it and stir it once in a while so it doesn’t burn—this should take close to an hour or two)
Just like that, you have a delicious dish of pozole, but if you want to take it up a step, you can add chopped up lettuce with avocado and oregano as well as some lime, which gives it more flavor, though it is optional and subject to your own preferences.
Pozole is a special occasion food usually served during birthdays, graduation or family gatherings. Since this is a beloved family recipe, I asked my mom when she likes to eat pozole and what she likes about it.
¨[ I like eating it] warm and during the cold [weather],¨ Rosa Pizano Galvan said. ¨It’s a complete meal.” There are also many different variations of pozole, including white (with no chili base and sometimes with chicken) and green (with a tomatillo base) in addition to the traditional red outlined above. Green pozole is usually consumed in Guerrero, Mexico as well as white pozole. However, white pozole is also eaten in Colima, Michoacán—same as the red pozole.
¨I like to put chili oil, pieces of chicken [and] cabbage [in it] and eat it on a tostada.¨ Leah Lagunas Hernandez said.
Centuries ago, legend says, the Aztecs would cut off the heads of their enemies and put them in the Pozole, and when the Aztecs would eat it, they basically thought that they were absorbing their enemies’ intelligence. This is just a little bit of knowledge about where this recipe comes from and how it was used, but perhaps, then, you too now have the knowledge of the Aztecs—and no violence necessary!
To me, Pozole is a childhood food, as I grew up eating it at multiple family gatherings, party holidays and birthdays. I vividly remember eating pozole at my aunt’s house once, where we were celebrating my brother’s birthday. I will always remember the happiness I felt eating the pozole while listening to the adults talk about their problems. To me, pozole is a very special food, and I think that everyone should give it a try.
If you want to taste a food that many people grow up with and hold dear to their heart you should check out this recipe and give it a try. While you’re at it, you should ask some friends or family to join you in trying this tasty meal and make some memories with them too.
