Pozole Rojo — The Saturday Stew the Week My Brother Turned Eighteen

Cody turned eighteen on Wednesday January tenth, in the Tulsa County Youthful Offender Unit, on the eighth day of his second year inside. The unit allows a small unfrosted plain sheet cake to be brought in for inmate birthdays, and I had baked one Friday night using my Kathy box-cake-improvement trick — one extra egg, less oil, milk instead of water, a tablespoon of vinegar — in a 9-by-9 pan, plain yellow, unfrosted, dusted with a little powdered sugar to make it look intentional. The cake came in with me Saturday morning at the visit and the lobby officer cleared it through inspection.

Cody had a slice with a plastic fork at the visiting table. Marcus his cellmate got a slice too — Cody had asked permission to share, and the unit had said yes. The visit was the thirty-eighth Saturday visit and was, in my opinion and in Mama’s by her account on the drive home, the best one we have had since the first one a year ago. Cody is eighteen. Cody is past the halfway mark. Cody is in three programs and has a paid publication forthcoming and is on the back half of a sentence the front half of which felt impossible to imagine getting through.

The one-year anniversary of the sentencing fell on Monday January eighth. Cody marked it with the writing workshop, where Mrs. Davis had set up the day as a reflection workshop — each writer wrote a half-page about a moment from the year that they wanted to remember. Cody read me what he wrote at the visit. The piece was about the first night, the loaded potato soup, our mother holding his face in both her hands, and her saying I am still your mother. We are still your family. We will figure this out. Mama had not heard the piece yet. He gave her a written copy at the visit. She put it in the kitchen-counter folder where she keeps the chapbook copies of his pieces.

And the recipe Sunday was pozole rojo, which I had been working up to for two months. Pozole rojo is the kind of recipe that I would have called too ambitious a year ago and that I am ready for now. The dish is a slow-simmered stew of pork shoulder, hominy, and a red chile sauce made from toasted dried chiles, served with garnishes that diners spoon over their bowl — thinly sliced radish, shredded cabbage, lime wedges, dried oregano, fresh cilantro.

The math: a 2.5-pound pork shoulder $7.84 on the markdown rack, a 29-oz can of hominy $1.49, three dried guajillo chiles $0.99 from the international aisle, two dried ancho chiles $0.79, an onion $0.20, a head of garlic free, salt, pepper, dried oregano. Garnishes: a small head of red cabbage $0.99, a bunch of radishes $0.99, two limes $0.98, fresh cilantro $0.99. Total: about $15.25 for a big pot that fed Mama and me for four dinners. About $1.91 a serving.

The technique is the chile sauce, which is the part of pozole rojo that separates a real one from a fake one. You toast the dried chiles in a dry hot skillet for about thirty seconds per side until fragrant (do not burn; bitter chiles ruin the broth). You stem and seed them. You soak in just-boiled water for fifteen minutes until soft. You drain the chiles, reserving a half cup of the soaking liquid. You blend the chiles with the soaking liquid, three cloves of garlic, a half onion, a teaspoon of salt, until smooth. You strain the puree through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. The strained sauce is your chile base.

You brown the cubed pork shoulder in oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. You drain the fat. You add the strained chile sauce and eight cups of water (or chicken broth from bouillon if you have it). You bring to a simmer. You add the drained hominy and a teaspoon of dried oregano. You simmer covered for ninety minutes until the pork is tender and the broth is rich.

You serve in big bowls. You set the garnishes on the table in small bowls and let everyone build their own. The radish adds crunch. The cabbage adds freshness. The lime adds brightness. The oregano and cilantro add herb. The bowl is the kind of bowl that takes you somewhere else.

Mama said, when she ate this Sunday night, baby, this is a hundred-year-old recipe and you made it. I said, I did, Mama.The kitchen has crossed another border.

The recipe is below. The trick is the toasted chiles — do not skip the dry-skillet step. Toasted chiles make the sauce; raw chiles make a sad pink water.

Budget Pozole Rojo

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 2 hrs | Total Time: 2 hrs 15 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 cans (15 oz each) hominy, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, plus more for serving
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• For serving: shredded green cabbage, thinly sliced radishes, lime wedges

Instructions

1. Brown the pork. Heat oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pork cubes in a single layer (work in batches if needed) and cook without stirring for 3–4 minutes until browned on one side. Stir and cook another 2 minutes. The browning adds depth — don’t skip it.
2. Build the base. Add the chopped onion directly to the pot with the pork and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir everything together and cook for 1 minute until the spices are fragrant and coating the meat.
3. Add the broth and simmer. Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes, until the pork is very tender and beginning to pull apart.
4. Add the hominy. Stir in the drained hominy and continue simmering uncovered for 20–25 minutes, until the hominy is heated through and the broth has thickened slightly. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
5. Serve. Ladle into deep bowls and top with a handful of shredded cabbage, a few radish slices, a squeeze of lime, and a pinch of dried oregano. The toppings aren’t optional — the crunch and acid are what make the whole bowl come alive.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 370 | Protein: 29g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 27g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 810mg