Pork Posole Verde is a hearty stew that you’ll serve as a meal. It needs no accompaniment to make it the main course – it’s truly satisfying without any croutons, any dumplings, any crackers. There are many versions of posole, but they all include hominy. That’s what makes it hearty – the hominy is so filling that whatever else you include in your posole, it will stick to your ribs.
Many of the recipes I’ve read for Pork Posole Verde are made from scratch. The pork is poached in chicken broth with hominy and all of the aromatic elements of tomatillo salsa, then simmered until the hominy softens and the flavors bloom. I’m sure the results are sublime.
But in my kitchen ecosystem* I’m aiming for ease as well as deliciousness. I grow tomatillos in the summer and “put up” pints and pints of Tomatillo Salsa. I freeze quarts of homemade chicken stock that I make from the carcass after roasting a chicken. Finally, this recipe is one that follows in rotation after I’ve made Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder, so the pork is already perfectly cooked. The only aspect of this Pork Posole Verde that I fuss with is the hominy. I can’t abide canned hominy.
I buy dried hominy (online) and reconstitute it when I plan to make posole. The dried hominy is stored in a glass jar in my pantry, alongside all of the dried legumes and other grains. The only fussy thing about it is that it requires an overnight soak before cooking, so you have to remember to soak it the evening before you plan to use it. One cup of dried hominy yields about 4 1/2 cups, once soaked and cooked.
Pork Posole Verde
Equipment
- Instant Pot (for cooking the hominy)
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried hominy
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 4 cups water
- 1 pound green cabbage (about 4 cups, after chopping)
- 1 pound roasted pork shoulder
- 1 pint Tomatillo Salsa
GARNISHES
- fresh cilantro
- 6 radishes
- 1 fresh lime
- 1 avocado (optional)
Instructions
THE NIGHT BEFORE
- Soak the hominy – Rinse the hominy and add it to a bowl. Cover the hominy with 2-3 inches of water, and let it sit overnight to plump and hydrate.
WHEN READY T COOK
- Cook the hominy – Drain the hominy and add it to your Instant Pot with 4 cups of chicken stock and 4 cups of water. Cook under high pressure for 10 minutes, NPR*. While the hominy is cooking, chop the cabbage and tear the pork shoulder into chunks a bit bigger than bite-sized.
- Simmer – Once the pressure has been released, taste the broth for seasoning and add salt and pepper, to taste. Add the pork, salsa, and cabbage to the pot and simmer until the cabbage is soft, but not melting away. While the stew is simmering, chop the cilantro and thinly slice the radishes. Slice or cut the lime into wedges.
- Garnish and Serve – Slice the avocado right before serving (if using). Ladle the stew into wide, shallow soup bowls, and garnish with lime, avocado (if using), and radishes, and a handful of chopped cilantro.
Notes
* The Kitchen Ecosystem is an inspiring book written by one of my favorite authors, Eugenia Bone. The book urges you to use every dish, every ingredient, at every stage of its life cycle (fresh, preserved, left-over…), eliminating kitchen waste in the most delicious ways possible.
Seasoned cooks know that the secret to great meals is this: the more you cook, the less you actually have to do to produce a delicious meal. The trick is to approach cooking as a continuum, where each meal draws on elements from a previous one and provides the building blocks for another. That synchronicity is a kitchen ecosystem.
– Eugenia Bone
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