Pozole Verde — The Soup That Doesn’t Care About the Weather

The heat is back. Phoenix flipped the switch from pleasant spring to surface-of-the-sun in what felt like forty-eight hours. One day it was 92 and manageable. The next day it was 108 and the steering wheel could brand cattle. Summer has arrived, and with it the six-month negotiation between my desire to be outside at the grill and my body's desire to not be cooked alive.

Jessica is twenty-four weeks and the heat is harder on her this pregnancy. When she was pregnant with Sofia, it was fall and winter — the easy months. Diego has chosen to gestate during an Arizona summer, which Jessica considers a personal affront and I consider poor planning on our part. She's drinking a gallon of water a day and I've moved the box fan to wherever she's sitting at any given moment. The fan follows her through the house like a loyal dog.

On shift this week we had a call that reminded me why I do this job. Medical emergency — a five-year-old having an asthma attack at a park near Station 19. By the time we arrived, the kid was blue. Not metaphorically blue. Actually blue. The kind of blue that makes your training kick in and everything else — the heat, the noise, the scared parent screaming — drops away. We got the albuterol in, got the oxygen on, and by the time we loaded him in the ambulance, the color was coming back. Pink cheeks. Crying. Alive.

His mom hugged me in the parking lot and said "you saved my boy." I said "that's what we're here for" because you can't say what you're actually thinking, which is: I have a boy too. He's not born yet. He's inside my wife right now, growing fingers and lungs and a life, and I would want someone to save him. Every kid I save is someone's Diego. That's the thing about this job that you can't explain to civilians. It's all personal. Every single call.

Came home and made pozole verde — the green version, with tomatillos and green chiles, lighter than the red. Made it for Jessica because she'd been craving soup, which is insane in 108-degree heat, but pregnancy cravings don't answer to weather. She ate it in the air conditioning with her feet up, watching a baking show, and said "tell Diego I said thank you" because she credits the baby for the cravings. Diego, still five months from being born, is already asserting culinary preferences. This is my son.

After that call — the blue kid turning pink, the mom in the parking lot, the drive home thinking about Diego and his growing lungs — I needed to make something with my hands. Something slow and deliberate, the opposite of emergency medicine. Pozole verde was the right call: bright tomatillos, roasted chiles, the patience of simmering pork until it falls apart. Jessica wanted soup in June in Phoenix, and honestly, after the day I’d had, standing over a hot pot felt like exactly the kind of heat I could control.

Pozole Verde

Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 medium white onion, quartered
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 pound tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 2 poblano peppers
• 2 jalapeño peppers
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, stems and leaves separated
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (Mexican oregano preferred)
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) white hominy, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

For Serving

• Shredded green cabbage
• Sliced radishes
• Diced avocado
• Lime wedges
• Dried oregano
• Crushed tostadas or tortilla chips
• Sliced jalapeños (optional)

Instructions

1. Brown the pork. Season pork with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown the pork on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
2. Roast the vegetables. Set the oven broiler to high. Place the tomatillos, poblanos, jalapeños, onion quarters, and garlic on a sheet pan. Broil 4 to 6 inches from heat for 8 to 10 minutes, turning once, until charred in spots and softened. Remove stems and seeds from the poblanos and jalapeños (leave seeds in one jalapeño for more heat).
3. Blend the green sauce. Transfer the roasted vegetables to a blender. Add the cilantro stems, cumin, and oregano. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute.
4. Simmer the pozole. Return the pork and any accumulated juices to the Dutch oven. Pour the green sauce and chicken broth over the pork. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 1 hour 15 minutes, until pork is very tender and shreds easily.
5. Add the hominy. Using two forks, shred the pork into bite-sized pieces right in the pot. Add the drained hominy and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir in lime juice and season with salt to taste.
6. Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, diced avocado, chopped cilantro leaves, a squeeze of lime, a pinch of dried oregano, and crushed tostadas.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 345 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 26g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 890mg