Menudo

From the flu to a hangover, this sometimes scary soup is what we would eat on New Year’s Day for as long as I can remember. The ingredients are not what you would call appetizing, but the end result is AMAZING! This is an all day process and it WILL stink up your house. Try it if you dare.

Step 1: Ingredients

1 ½ lbs of pansa (cow stomach lining)
3 onions
6 cloves of garlic crushed
A ton of salt
2 16 oz cans of hominy (corn kernels soaked in lye, I said it was a scary soup!)
2 1/2 cups of homemade red chile sauce or Las Palmas Enchilada sauce (hot).

Garnish (optional)
oregano
lemon/lime
shredded cabbage
chopped onion

Comments

[bajablue]

In one word: AmAzInG!

I honestly feel a little sorry for anyone who's never tasted homemade Menudo... It's the soup of the Gods.

Hangover or flu NOT necessary! ;-D

[lberry1552]

Yumm- I actually like the smell - I would wake up on a Saturday morning and I knew my mom was cooking some good stuff!

[MommasArtMess]

I miss the ingredients I could find in every grocery store in Albuquerque. In the Pacific NW, I can't find frozen posole, (better than canned hominy - trust me) or frozen red chile. It's true that processing my own dried red results in the same thing, and garlic is everywhere, so I drown my sorrows. By the way, in most of NM, limes or lemons are served with the cooked menudo, along with fresh flour tortillas and lots of oregano.

Mzungu - I'll bet someone mis-read the recipe. Including a couple of pig's *feet* adds that lovely gelatin, but the bones are a bit of a pain. By the way, OP - I think it's lime rather than lye. One is edible and the other is soap.

=)

Salud!

[shantinath1000]

The posole is actually processed with LYE. the use of this base allows humans the access to all the amino acids in the corn. this is also why a bit of lime (as in the chemical , not the citrus) is added to massa harina (corn flour) in making tortillas. in the hominy it is soaked in a lye solution till the kernel is swollen and the exterior skin has split.

[joreknight]

yep, that's called nixtamal, and the process is called nixtamalizacion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamalization

[zurichko]

I was raised using canned hominy in our menudo so I'll take your word for it. It's tough, even in Oklahoma to get decent materials but the further you away you are from the border; it becomes scarce I imagine.

The hominy is prepared by soaking hulled corn kernels that have no germ or bran, in a weak lye bath....according to various sources on the internets.

[Anordawn]

Hi Zurichko! I live in Phoenix no problem getting material here and I grew up in San Diego again no problem there, but my parents lived in Oklahoma and I found a company that is based out of San Diego that carry almost anything anybody would want to make great Mexican food. Check it out http://www.mexgrocer.com/ you've may already have heard of it. Your Menudo looks great! I think I'll make some. Thank you

[zurichko]

Amazing!! Nope, I haven't heard of it before, thank you so much!! I moved from Phoenix two years ago to OK and have had a tough time getting my goods. I wish I had found this earlier, we may be moving back to Phoenix in about 2 months or so but in the meantime, this will come in handy! Thanks again!

[joreknight]

I love menudo, but in my area it's white instead of red, also i only eat the corn (not a big fan of panza) and as cifer said menudo goes great with some bolillos

[zurichko]

Yup, I've had both but still prefer the red over the white menudo...bolillos are so yummy...especially sliced lengthwise and toasted with butter. I use them for tortas and philly cheesesteaks.

[joreknight]

mmm i love philly cheesesteaks definitely i'm trying that

[frenzy]

Menudo?

[zurichko]

I was waiting for someone to post this...I can't believe it took 2 days. "Subete A Mi Moto!"

[vhcl]

Mi Abuela "Grandma" used to sell menudo for a living back in the 60s, and sometimes she would take some leftover panza form the menudo pot and gave it a light fry and ad some guajillo chile (she only made white menudo) and use it as stuffing for tacos, Give it a try is delicisus as an apetizer.

[zurichko]

Mmmm...que rico! I love tacos de buche too...have you had that? It's the cow's jowls...very yummy. I have some leftover, I'll try it!

[vhcl]

Ohhh claro the only difference is that here in mexico buche is made from pork and you can get it when you have carnitas..

Saludos desde Tijuana Mexico

[zurichko]

Ay como deseo comer comida Mexicana pero buen hecho. No hay aqui en Oklahoma. :(

[Harlley Sathler]

Here in Brazil this is a very popular soup (here it's called Dobradinha), but added with some bacon, tomatoes, smoked sausage and white beans.

My mom's trick: add a little milk to improve smell during the cooking.

[zurichko]

That sounds good too. Thanks to your Mom for the tip!

[EmmettO]

Stuff's gotta be good if Ricky Martin named a band after it.

[cifer]

Also good with diced radishes. And some warm "bolillos" (a type of Mexican bread roll) Some spicy menudo got me through my last cold. ;o)

[mzungu]

It's some good stuff.

I had some menudo that put pig skin in it too, worst ever.