Pozole

Pozole is a traditional Mexican soup, featuring a hominy base, cooked meat and a variety of toppings. Hominy is a type of dried corn kernel that has undergone a special chemical process that changes the texture and flavour when compared to fresh corn kernels.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 litre chicken stock
• 1 cup (250 ml) water
• 2 jalapeño peppers (substitute with poblano if available)
• 250 g fresh tomatillos, husked and quartered (or green tomatoes)
• 3 green bullhorn peppers, halved
• ½ small bunch coriander
• ½ onion, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• ½ tbsp chicken bouillon powder (or Hardcore Carnivore Texas Jalapeño Salt)
• Salt
• 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
• 850 g can white hominy, drained
• Sliced radish, diced avocado, tortilla chips, cotija (or Colby) cheese, to serve

Instructions

1. Combine the chicken stock and water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
   
2. In a food processor or blender, combine the jalapeños, tomatillos, bullhorn peppers, coriander, onion, garlic and chicken bouillon powder. Blitz to a thick green liquid. Add a splash of water if needed.
   
3. Add the blended green liquid to the saucepan with the chicken stock and stir well to combine. Taste the broth, and season to taste with salt. Stir through the shredded chicken and the drained hominy. Increase the heat to medium and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until everything is warmed through.
   
4. Divide the pozole between bowls and top with sliced radish, avocado, tortilla chips and a sprinkle of cotija cheese.

Note

• Many traditional pozole recipes will have you cook down/ reduce the green blended liquid in a pan to develop flavour. I always do this when making red or rojo pozole, but I don’t think it’s necessary for the green.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.