Soul Stew: Pozole Blanco
On Thursday nights, Autentica serves pozole blanco with all the fresh fixings.
Image: Lara Ferroni
On any given night, a trip to Autentica—Portland’s holy temple of Mexican cuisine—can be an intoxicating experience. But on Thursdays, when chef-owner Oswaldo Bibiano prepares his pozole blanco, it’s an all-out assault on the senses. A fine haze of chile dust fills the air along with the pungent aroma of meat, spice, and herbs.
On a recent Thursday I visited Bibiano at Autentica and found him hunched over a stockpot filled with simmering broth, chopped onions, and an unpeeled head of garlic. As I peered over his shoulder, he measured a few cups of hominy-—a dry, large-kernel corn whose hull has been removed—before looking up at me. “The backbone of my pozole,” he said with a grin.
Considered the soul food of Mexico’s Pacific Coast, pozole is a traditional savory stew made by blending corn varieties sown by the Mayans and Aztecs with European ingredients (pork, garlic, and onions from the Spaniards). “There are several different pozole variations,” explained Bibiano as he quartered a Cascade Natural pork leg, dropping the meat into the pot. “There’s pozole verde, made with tomatillos, and pozole rojo, made with ancho chile peppers, but here we make pozole blanco, with garlic and onions. That’s always been the Thursday tradition in my family.”
Bibiano grew up near Acapulco, and as a child he’d watch his grandmother tend a large terra-cotta pot of pozole set over an outdoor wood fire. She’d use a coconut-shell spoon to ladle out the stew and serve it to her family. Today Bibiano uses a stainless steel spoon, but the result is much the same: juicy shreds of supple pork float with plump hominy in a deeply scented broth revved up by chile, black pepper, and garlic.
The soup is served with a garnish plate of shredded cabbage, diced onions, radishes, crumbled cotija, avocado, and chile sauce. When I sprinkle the trimmings into the bowl, the dish takes on a lively new dimension, and by the time I finish my last spoonful, it’s seared into my memory for good. I sense that this is how traditions are born.
Pozole Blanco
(Serves 5–6)
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 white onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
- 3 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 10 cups water or chicken broth
- 1 head garlic
- 2 ½ lbs pork shoulder, bone-in
- 3 15-oz cans white hominy, drained and rinsed
- Salt to taste
(1) In a large stockpot, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Sauté 1 ½ cups chopped onions until soft, about 3 minutes.
(2) Sprinkle pork shoulder with salt and brown in the pot, about 1 minute per side.
(3) Add 1 tbsp oregano and 1 tsp cumin.
(4) Add water or chicken broth and half of the garlic head, peels on.
(5) Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer until pork nearly falls off the bone, about 2 hours.
(6) Transfer pork to a cutting board and let cool.
(7) Meanwhile, pour broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl. Discard garlic and onions.
(8) Add broth back to pot, add 2 cans hominy, and continue to cook over medium-high heat.
(9) Remove 2 cups broth and purée in a food processor with remaining can of hominy, remaining onion, 2 tbsp dried oregano, 1 tsp ground cumin, and 3 peeled garlic cloves.
(10) Stir blended mixture into pot.
(11) Shred pork and add to pot.
(12) Simmer for 20–30 minutes. Season with salt.
(13) Serve in bowls with a garnish plate of shredded green cabbage, diced radishes, diced red onion, sliced fresh serrano peppers, sliced avocados, lime wedges, crumbled cotija cheese, dried oregano, and your favorite hot sauce or salsa.
This recipe was adapted from chef Oswaldo Bibiano’s family recipe. He is the chef-owner of the Mexican restaurant, Autentica.
