Pozole Rojo

Ingredients for the White Pozole

• 1 pound dried hominy (also called maíz mote pelado or giant white corn)
  • 1 head garlic, papery outer layers removed
  • Kosher or coarse sea salt
  • 2 lbs chicken thighs and drumsticks, cut into serving pieces (Gray's tip: the original recipe called for 6 lbs. No, honey.)
  • 1 white onion, halved
  • 5 cilantro sprigs

Ingredients for the Chile Puree

• 2 dried ancho chiles, rinsed, stemmed, and seeded
• 3 dried guajillo chiles, rinsed, stemmed, and seeded
• ¼ cup chopped white onion
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• Pinch ground cumin
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Accompaniments

• Limes, quartered
  • Radishes, thinly sliced
  • Romaine lettuce, chopped
  • White onion, diced
  • Dried ground chile, such as piquí­n or tajín
  • Dried oregano
  • Tortilla chips or tostadas

To Prepare

1. Place dried hominy in a large pot, add enough water to cover the hominy by at least 4 inches, and then toss in the head of garlic. (Don’t add salt before or during cooking or the hominy will toughen.) Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat, cover partially, and gently simmer over medium-low heat until the hominy has “bloomed,” or opened, 4 to 4.5 hours, skimming the foam from the surface and adding more water as needed. The hominy will be chewy. Remove from the heat and add 2 tsp salt.
2. Place the chicken in a large pot and add enough water to cover by at least 2 inches. Add the onion, cilantro, and 1 T salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat, cover partially, and gently simmer over medium-low heat until the chicken is cooked through and tender, about 40 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot, straining and reserving the cooking liquid. Let the chicken cool.
3. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skin and bones and shred the meat into bite-size pieces.
4. Dump the shredded chicken and its cooking liquid into the pot with the hominy and place over medium heat until warmed through, about 10 minutes. It should be soupy. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Remove the pot from the heat and set it aside while you make the chile purée.
   1. Place the ancho and guajillo chiles in a medium saucepan, add just enough water to cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer until softened and rehydrated, about 10 minutes.
5. Place the chiles and ¾ cup of their soaking liquid in a blender or food processor along with the onion, garlic, cumin, cloves, and salt and purée until smooth. Pass the purée through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing on the solids with the back of a wooden spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids. (Gray's tip: I didn't strain or discard the solids. It was fine.)
6. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the chile purée and bring to a boil, then cover partially and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat.
7. Reheat the white pozole over medium-high heat until it comes to a gentle simmer. Stir in the chile purée and cook for 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt.

To Serve

Ladle the red pozole into soup bowls and pass the limes, radishes, lettuce, onion, ground chile, dried oregano, and tortilla chips in bowls at the table so each diner can fancy the pozole up as they like.