Pozole Rojo: the Traditional Mexican Soup

Pozole is the best soup to celebrate the Independence of México (which is every year on September 15).

Pozole is a old plate made since the prehispanic times, a verte traditional soup we mexicans love. There are many different variants of Pozole depending of the state ir even the city you go yo no México.

We have Pozole Rojo (the one we will be cooking), Pozole Blanco, Pozole Verde, Pozole with shrimp, and many many more.

For the Pozole we will need:

• 2lt of chicken broth
• 2lt of pork broth
• 1kg of pozolero corn (It´s a special kind of corn called Cacahuazintle, you should find it in your nearest mexican "tiendita")
• 2 shredded chicken breasts
• 1kg of shredded pork leg
• 3 dried bell peppers to taste
• 10 dried ancho chile
• 8 peppercorns
• 3 dried laurel leaves
• 1 or 2 iceberg lettuces
• Red tostadas shells
• A teaspoon of dried oregano leaves

For the Chicken broth(store bought works just fine) ;

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2lt of water
• Salt to taste
• 1 carrot
• 2 potatoes
• 3 big cloves of garlic

For the pork broth;

• 1kg. of pork leg
• 2lt. of water
• 8 cloves of garlic
• 5 dried laurel leaves

For the cucumber salsa(it adds a nice kick to the pozole);

• 3 cucumbers
• 4 serrano peppers to taste
• The juice of 10 limes
• Salt to taste

Chicken broth;

In a large pot pour 2 litters of purified water, boil it on the stove on a high flame. Once it boils place the carrot, potatoes, the garlic and both chicken breasts, season with salt to your taste, let the veggies and chicken cook on a medium flame until the chicken has cooked completely. Lastly you will only need to shred both chicken breasts (once it cools off) and save the broth for later.

Pork broth;

In another large pot pour litters of purified water, boil it on the stove on a high flame. Once it boils place the kilo of pork leg, the garlic, and the laurel leaves, season with salt to your taste, let the pork cook on a medium/low flame until it cooks completely. Lastly you will only need to shred the pork (once it cools off) and save the broth for later.

This is the step that makes de Pozole red, most of the distinctive flavor of the Pozole Rojo comes from this one step.

First take out all the seeds of both ancho and bell peppers, then boil 2 to 3 cups of purified water and pour it over the peppers, let them simmer for at least 30 minutes. Lastly just use the blender to make a paste (pour all of the peppers on the blender with just a cup of the water they simmered on).

In a larger pot place both the chicken and the pork broth, let them boil on a medium flame, then add the peppers sauce, the shredded chicken and pork, the cacahuazintle and the peppercorns, let everything boil on a medium flame for around one hour.

And that's it! You've made your first real Mexican Pozole Rojo, congrats!

Now for the special sauce...

First peel the 3 cucumbers and take out every seed, cut the serrano peppers in half and take out every seed, cut the cucumbers in smaller pieces, cut in half and squeeze the juice of 10 limes. Place all of that in the blender and of course blend it really well.

Enjoy with everything combined!