Menudo (Mexican Tripe and Hominy Soup)
Menudo is a traditional Mexican dish; a spicy soup made with hominy and tripe. Menudo preparation in the northern state of Chihuahua as well as northern New Mexico requires the preparation of three separate items, all combined at the time of final preparation for the table: Stew, Posole, and Chili. This recipe is similar and is very simple, using minimal ingredients. Cooking the menudo and chili the night before allows the cook to place the stew into the refrigerator to harden the saturated fat,
- Prep
- 44 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 44 min
- Total
- 2 hr 28 min
- Servings
- As written in source
- Difficulty
- Advanced
Timings are approximate — worked out from the method, not measured in a test kitchen.
Ingredients
Quantities are retained as written by the source and do not scale automatically. Tap an ingredient to check it off as you go.
Cooking instructions
Procedure
Wipe the dried Anchos off with a wet paper towel.
Procedure
If desired, toast dried chilies on each side 15 seconds on a hot griddle (this releases essential oils and enhances the flavor).
Procedure
Place the dried chilies into the small pot of boiling water and boil for 10 minutes, turning frequently in the boiling water to ensure all sides receive their fair share of punishment.
Procedure
Remove the chili pot from the stove and drain off the boiling water. Fill with cold water; let it sit a few minutes to cool.
Procedure
Remove the stems from the chilies, cut chilies longitudinally from stem to tip on one side and open. Flush gently with running cold water to remove the seeds.
Procedure
Place stemless and seedless reconstituted chilies into a blender and purée.
Procedure
Remove pure from the blender and place in the refrigerator overnight.
Procedure
Rinse and drain the white hominy.
Procedure
Place the patas (feet) and ribs into a pot.
Procedure
Place the hominy in the pot with the patas (feet).
Procedure
Put 1 tbsp salt in the pot.
Procedure
Take 3–4 dried Chilis de Arbol, discard the seeds and stems, and snip the chilis into ringlets and put into the pot.
Procedure
Cover with water to a height not exceeding 1 cm above the ingredients and bring to a boil.
Procedure
Cook the posole uncovered until the ribs are finished. Remove from the heat.
Procedure
Remove the meat from the ribs and dice into small cubes, place back into the pot with the posole, discard the bones.
Procedure
Place the cooked patas (feet) into the pressure pot you will use to make the menudo.
Procedure
Place a small pot of water on the stove and set to boil. This will be needed to prepare the chilies.
Procedure
Cut the fat from off of the tripe. If fat clings to the non-honeycombed side of the tripe, use a stiff brush to remove it.
Procedure
Cut tripe into small pieces, about ¾–1 inch. Strong scissors work well here!
Procedure
If the tripe smells overly rank (this is normal), you may want to soak it in clean water for an hour (or possibly boil it in water for five minutes) throwing away the soak (boiling) water.
Procedure
Place cut tripe into the pressure cooker on top of the patas (feet).
Procedure
Add the garlic, bay leaves, and Mexican oregano.
Procedure
Fill pressure cooker with water until about 1 cm. above the height of the stew ingredients.
Procedure
Cook at pressure 35–40 minutes.
Procedure
After the stew has cooked in the pressure cooker at full pressure for 35–40 minutes, remove from the heat and let the pot cool off completely until pressure returns to ambient.
Procedure
Remove the patas from the pot and remove the bones. Put deboned patas into pot with the tripe and discard the bones.
Procedure
Transfer the stew to a large bowl and add the posole, ensure all savory pieces lie below the waterline, and set in the refrigerator overnight.
Procedure
In the morning, skim all hardened fat from the surface of the stew which has probably gelatinized overnight.
Procedure
Reheat a serving portion of the stew in the microwave or on stovetop. When hot, place into a serving bowl.
Procedure
Add a tablespoon of chili to the stew and blend thoroughly.
Procedure
The menudo is ready to serve with hot corn tortillas. The spices (oregano and chili flakes) are traditionally combined before serving and placed at the side of the bowl of menudo with a lime wedge for the diner to add just prior to eating. Along with the spices, diced onion or cilantro are also traditionally added to the stew just prior to enjoying.
Notes, tips, and variations
Almost all (but not all) store-bought honeycomb tripe will smell strongly from the bleaching lime as possible. Let your nose be the judge as to whether or not it will require a soaking or boil as described in the steps below.
Notes, tips, and variations
You may use cow feet instead of pig feet.
Photo: Kaihsu Tai · CC BY-SA 3.0 · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ · Photo source and licence
Wikibooks contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Adapted; quantities retained as written. · Original source
Read it through first
Skim all 33 steps before you start — it is the difference between cooking and firefighting.
Scale it
Use the quantities listed in the original recipe. Adjust them manually if making a different batch size.
Storage
Cool completely, then keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Reheating
Reheat gently with a splash of water in a covered pan, rather than blasting it, so nothing dries out.
Approximate values per serving. Worked out from the ingredient list — treat them as a guide, not a measurement.
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