Mexican-Style Pork Stew (Posole)

Posole is a Mexican pork stew. This recipe is not authentic, but it is tasty. The flavor comes from the dried guajillo chilies that are added to Mexican-style tomato sauce. The traditional method to preparing the chilies is to roast them in a frying pan, remove the seed and stems, and then rehydrate the chilies in hot water before adding them to the sauce. I roast the chilies in the oven, remove the seeds and stems, and then skip the rehydration step and add the chilies directly into a food processor to make the sauce. I figure the rehydration step can be done while the chilies are cooking in the sauce.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

3 lb.	1.4 kg.	Country-Style Boneless Pork Ribs, cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
1.5 lb.	700 g.	Carrots cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces on the diagonal
29 oz.	822 g.	Teasdale brand Mexican-style hominy (1 can)
750 ml.	750 ml.	White wine, 1 bottle divided use (i.e. only one bottle needed for this recipe)
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

4	4	Dried guajillo chilies, roasted
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Dried oregano
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Ground cumin
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic, crushed with a garlic press
27 oz.	765 g.	El Pato brand Mexican-style tomato sauce (1 can)
1.5 oz.	44 ml.	Tequila (1 shot; optional)
3 Tbs.	45 ml.	Tapioca starch
750 ml.	750 ml.	White wine, 1 bottle divided use (i.e. only one bottle needed for this recipe)

 

Equipment

11 cup	2.6 L.	Food Processor
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan to brown the ingredients
6.5 qt.	6 L.	Slow cooker (crock pot) to cook the stew

 

Preparation Instructions

1. Prepare the dry chilies for the sauce. The usual method to prepare dried chilies is to pan roast the chilies, remove the seeds and stems, and then soak them for an hour in hot water before adding them to the sauce. I use a different preparation method of oven roasting the chilies at 350⁰F (175⁰C) for 10-15 min., removing the seeds and stems, and then using a food processor to grind the dry chilies together with the sauce, skipping the hour to soak the chilies.
2. Crush the garlic with a garlic press; add the oregano, cumin, Mexican-style tomato sauce, tequila, and tapioca starch into the food processor. Mix the ingredients in the food process until thoroughly incorporated and set aside.
3. Open the can of Mexican-style hominy and drain any liquid; set aside.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil and then some of the pork. Brown the pork on all sides before deglazing with some of the white wine. Put the pork and any liquid into the slow cooker. The pork needs to be cooked in small batches so that the pork browns rather than steams in the wok. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then more of the pork, repeating the process until all the pork is browned.
2. Reheat the wok or pan over high heat before adding oil and then the carrots. Brown the carrots and then deglaze with some of the white wine. Put the browned carrots and any liquid into the slow cooker.
3. Add the Mexican-style hominy to the slow cooker.
4. Add the rest of the bottle of white wine to the food processor with the sauce and mix together. Add the sauce to the slow cooker.
5. Cover and turn on the slow cooker using the high setting for 2 hours, and then switch to the low setting for up to 6 hours. At the end of the cooking period, remove any excess fat from the top of the posole. Transfer the contents of the slow cooker to a serving dish and serve with tortillas and pickled vegetables (recipe can be found here).
6. Any leftovers can be used to make enchiladas (recipe can be found here). Of course, instead of using pulled-pork as a filling in the original recipe, the posole is used in its place. Add some rice to the enchiladas if desired.