Gordito
Nov 30, 1919, 12:00 AM
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Below is a recipe for menudo which I had saved to my HD some time ago.
I've got the urge to stew this up next weekend after the St. Patty's celebration
here in Savannah. Should be good for the hangovers.
I know I'll be using canned hominy, but I am posting the recipe here for any comments
on the ingredients or quantities. Recipes often get pretty non-specific about
peppers. Do you think serranos will do for the "small red chilis" and anchos for the
"large dried chilies"? Would poblanos be a good twist?
Would chipotles en adobo be overwhelming?
Thanks for any suggestions ... and now ...
The secret to the recipe is that the three parts, the tripe, the corn and the chile are cooked separately,
and only mixed and cooked together just before serving. This keeps the flavors clean and separate, and the textures distinct.
The following recipe is enough for a fair few people. Since it keeps the best, and takes the longest, start out with the tripe, or menudo.
El Menudo
Take three kilos of tripe, (menudo), wash it off well, trim out most of the fat,
cut it into one inch squares. Drop into a pot of boiling water, simmer a few minutes and drain.
Put back into pot, and add one calf foot, or two pigs feet, cut up a bit. Cover well with water, and add:
½ head garlic, whacked
several small hot red chiles
2 onions, sliced
3-4 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
tsp black peppercorns, broken
2 Tbl dry leaf oregano
2 tsp cuminos seed, crushed
Put this on a very slow fire for several hours until very tender.
Drain, saving liquid. Wash tripe. Remove bones from feet, or can leave feet whole until served.
Return feet and tripe to liquid, cool and reserve. Refrigerated, this keeps well, and freezes fairly well.
El Posole
While the menudo is simmering, cook the posole. This is the corn part, the Nixtamal,
the magic. For the best, you started a couple days before with a good, native white corn.
You soaked it in lime water, rubbed the skins off and washed it well, and it is ready to work with.
This is a lot of work.
Frozen posole corn is also good, and canned posole/ hominy corn also will do.
For this much of a recipe, you want several handfuls of dry white corn to start with,
or a kilo (2 lb) package of frozen posole corn, or a gallon can of posole/ hominy corn.
Drain the corn and wash well. Cover with water. Bring to simmer and add a half head of garlic,
whacked up a bit. Simmer gently till tender. Drain, and if you are not going to finish the Menudo
immediately, cool the corn quickly and refrigerate it. Warm posole corn by itself ferments quickly,
and should be kept either very hot or very cold until cooked in with the menudo.
It will keep 3-4 days in the refrigerator, but freezes poorly.
El Chile
Take one half pound of whole dry red large chiles. Put the whole dry chiles
on a hot dry grill or frying pan and toss around a bit until just barely beginning
to color. Be careful, they scorch easily. Remove, let cool, remove stems and most
of the seeds. Cover with boiling water and let steep 15-20 minutes.
Run through a food mill or a food processor, discard skins.
To chile pulp add:
2 clove garlic, minced
pinch cumin seed
Tbl vinegar
tsp oregano
pinch of salt
tsp sugar
Simmer up gently for a few minutes. Cool and refrigerate.
This is the basic Mexican Red Chile sauce, and is good with everything.
The Finish
Now you have all the parts together. To finish the Menudo,
take a nice heavy dutch oven or saucepan, and add:
4 Cups Menudo tripe and liquid, divide it out evenly.
3 Cups drained Posole Corn
1 to 2 Cups Red Chile Sauce
Enough water, stock or even a bit of beer if needed to make a fair bit of juice.
These proportions are, of course, strictly to taste. Bring all gently to simmer, while adding:
2 cloves garlic, fine chop
1 Tbl vinegar
1 Tbl leaf oregano
1 tsp cumin seed
grind of black pepper
dash of salt
Simmer for a few minutes. Serve with hot tortillas
and a small plate with a pile of dry oregano, some lime slices, piles of chopped cilantro, chopped onion, salt and some hot chiles.
(I'll also take Bob's suggestion in an earlier post and
soak the tripe in lemon jiuce before boiling.)
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