Red Pozole Recipe

The red pozole is a typical Mexican broth which is customary to serve on national holidays, birthdays, during the Christmas holidays or any special occasion. The origin of the red, green and white pozole is very old and there are several theories that exist about its birth. It is believed that it may have emerged during pre-Hispanic times and that, originally, it was made with human flesh, the meat of the captives who were sacrificed in some festivals. On the other hand, corn was considered a sacred food by the Aztecs, so it was used to be eaten at special times. In addition, it is said that this meat was cooked in a container called “pozolli”, which comes from Nahuatl and translates as “boiled” or “foamy”. Currently, Mexican red pozole can be made with pork or chicken, as has been done for centuries.

Ingredients to make Red Pozole:

1. 1½ kilograms of precooked corn
2. 3 kilograms of pork bones
3. 4 kilograms of pork
4. 1 head of garlic
5. 300 grams of onion
6. 100 grams of guajillo chili
7. 200 grams of radish
8. 200 grams of romaine lettuce
9. 2 tablespoons of cumin
10. 50 grams of oregano
11. 100 grams of lemon
12. 1 pinch of salt

How to make Red Pozole:

• The first step to making red pozole with precooked corn is to get the ingredients ready. Begin by washing the corn. In this case we have used precooked corn, but if you like you can use dry corn. To do this, the only thing you have to do is let it soak in water with lime and decapitate it before cooking.
• In a large saucepan, cook the corn along with a halved onion and a head of garlic. For 1.5 kg of corn you use approximately 15 liters of water. It is advisable to cook corn without salt.
• Before it starts to boil, add the bones and the pork, cook for 2 hours, foaming constantly, which means that you must remove the impurities released by the meat from the broth. After 2 hours, we check the meat and, when it is ready, remove it from the broth, leaving only the bones to cook for another 4 hours. The red pork pozole is cooked over low heat.
• Tip: if you don’t like pork, you can substitute it for chicken meat and prepare the red chicken pozole recipe.
• Let the meat cool slightly and shred it when it is lukewarm. Reserve it for the moment of serving the red pozole.
• In a separate saucepan, cover the already seeded and deveined chilies with water and cook them with half and onion and 3 cloves of garlic. Blend the chilies with a little of the cooking water so that a thick marinade is left.
• Remove the pork bones, onion and head of garlic from the broth and add the strained marinade.
• Grind the cumin and add it to the shredded meat to the pozole, season with salt and boil for 15 more minutes. The red pozole broth should be like a light atoll.
• Cut the previously disinfected julienne lettuce, the onion into small cubes and the radish into slices. Reserve for the moment of plating. These are the most characteristic red pozole ingredients for its decoration and presentation, but you can always innovate and use different ones.
• Grandma’s red pozole recipe is served very hot and accompanied by the vegetables chopped in the previous step, a little oregano, salt, lemon and chili pepper.